


Twisted Miraculous

by FeliciaBelle



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Babe you're the devil how dare you, Cupid is just choke holding everyone, Evolving Tags, F/M, Good Lila Rossi, Magic Mirror on the Wall, Multi, Nothing too bad I just want to pick on him a little, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, This Panda has no self control, no beta we die like robins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:09:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 29,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24234823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeliciaBelle/pseuds/FeliciaBelle
Summary: After receiving a weird mirror as a gift, Marinette meets a strange boy from a world where the fairy tales are real and twisted. As if she didn't have enough on her plate with being Ladybug and having to protect Paris, on top of that she has her own coursework to worry about! Will her encounter lead to unusual romance or will she have to protect her city and friends from the mischief of a fae?
Relationships: Kalim Al-Asim/Adrien Agreste, Luka Couffaine/Original Male Characters/The Octavinelle Trio, Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Malleus Draconia, Vil Schoenheit/Original Character(s)
Comments: 127
Kudos: 102





	1. The Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Hi...three a.m. ideas are called Three A.M Ideas for a reason. I was making dumb scenarios with a friend and they were actually fun, so I decided to make a full fic of it (minus the Yandere aspect because that was me counting down the days until Minnesota reopens everything.) 
> 
> I hope this entertains you, like it has for my friends and I.

Marinette slumped onto her chaise lounge and sighed, everything in her life was just going crazy; it’s been however long since she became Ladybug and honestly, she was feeling burnt out about being Paris’ savior. Oh sure, she had her team – a permanent one of her friends; Queen Bee, Madame Grey, Hooded Assassin (and sometimes Viperion), and Ryuuko. Don’t get her wrong, she still hung out with Alya and Nino, but lately Alya’s been becoming more and more headstrong and drags Nino along for the ride. No matter the warning, she ignores them and continues to go about her way of diving into danger headfirst in blissful ignorance, because of that Marinette was forced to hold back on calling in Rena Rouge and Carapace unless it was absolutely needed. The life of a super hero was never easy, and it was taking a massive toll on her, well, that and school.

School was another story altogether; her teacher was honestly the worst. Sure Ms. Bustier was a nice teacher and all, but when it came to conflict, she just stood to the side and expected the rest of the students to duke it out and heaven help you if you tried bringing up the root of the problem to her. It took years just to get everyone on the same page that their teacher sucked and if she wasn’t going to do anything, neither would they. They’ll still do their homework assigned to them (which, honestly the lessons weren’t schoolboard approved – parents were getting close to calling them about it.) but anything else wasn’t going to happen. Of course, there wasn’t a rule saying they couldn’t make their own club and fund their own trips that way; it was easy to manipulate the system, especially with the spineless principal that was Mr. Damocles. In the end, school was just another chore to deal with; Ms. Bustier was an enabler or she’d just overexaggerates a story – case in point was Lila Rossi; when she first came to Paris and was akumatized into Volpina, it left her shaken that there were times she had to do online courses because she couldn’t bring herself to school without having a panic attack. And what did Ms. Bustier say in light of this? “Oh, Lila’s in Achu with her mother.” The less said about that the better (and speaking of Lila, she was getting better – granted she does have a few lies still being told, but they were mostly to get their teacher off her back).

There was some kind of a blessing to all of this of course, Hawkmoth hasn’t been active in a while and that meant she could finally breath. She was able to tend to her veranda plants, work on designs and commissions, and even baking for her class on special occasions. She was able to breath for the time being, but there was still the lingering feeling of dread brewing – Hawkmoth won’t always stay inactive and soon she’ll have to glide through the rooftops of Paris to stop the latest Akuma of the day. Still, she was going to take any quiet day she could to just sit back and relax – even if it meant dozing off on the chaise lounge. Her dozing only lasted for a short while before her trap door was opened and her grandmother Gina came in. Looking over, Marinette watched as she brought in a large circular mirror with the help of her parents; the outer rim had black ornate décor in the form of thorns, the glass had a bit of a sickly green shine to it, and it was propped up on the wall right next to her sewing station. 

“I feel like I should ask why there’s an ominous mirror in my room.” Marinette started. “But I have a feeling that if I do ask, I’m going to get an answer I won’t like.” 

Gina laughed and waved her hand dismissively. “If it will put your mind at ease, I found this mirror in the forest during one of my travels.” She explained. “It was just sitting there getting covered in vines and other foliage, so I brought it here for you to use.”

“It…would be nice to have a mirror for Juleka and Rose to stand in front of when I’m working…” Marinette agreed. “Doesn’t really explain why someone left a mirror in the middle of the woods like that.”

“A free mirror is a free mirror; I wouldn’t question it.” 

There’s been way too many urban legends and creepy pastas about finding a free piece of furniture, chances are this mirror was cursed to hell and back. Still, she was Ladybug…she could handle a cursed mirror and the demon that comes with it. Smiling, Marinette just accepted it and thanked her grandmother for it – waiting until she left, she was going to put a cover over it before going to bed or whenever she left the room for whatever reason. But, until then, she kept the mirror uncovered and grabbed her sketchbook before returning to the chaise lounge; looking at the eerie mirror, she was inspired to design a dress in its likelihood – gothic style of course, she was never going to run out of ideas for that subbranch of fashion. And like always, whenever she was in the zone, she would have her phone on silent and set away to keep from being distracted and she would tune out the rest of the world around her. So much so whenever she tuned the world out, she failed to notice the glow of the mirror and the strange boy on the other side watching her with a curious gaze on his pale face.

*****

Walking among the prestigious academy that was Night Raven College, Malleus found himself away from the grounds and deep into the forest. It wasn’t a surprise for him to be away from the school like this, he enjoyed exploring abandoned places without the company of others as he always found amazing treasures that he would keep with him always. Before him was a strange mirror, it wasn’t unheard of to find a magic mirror at the college since they were everywhere; but this was one was…different, it certainly didn’t look like the traditional means to enter the school as a student. No, this one had intricate carvings of thorns around the rim and had a soft green shine in the glass that seemed to mirror off his own glowing green eyes. How curious, a magic mirror with no known origins; where did it lead to? Was it like Grimhilde’s informant? Oh, how he couldn’t wait to discover its secrets! It was coming with him to his dorm, he didn’t care what stares his peers would give, he was keeping this mirror and utilizing its magic – perhaps it could be used to cause some mischief to other realms!

Pushing away the vines and leaves, he grabbed the mirror and shimmied it out of the ground before brushing the dirt off the bottom of the rim. He smiled down at it and carried it back to the grounds of the academy, keeping a neutral look and a powerful aura to dissuade others from approaching him about his finds – especially Azul, he knew that greedy mage would be willing to do whatever he can to get his hands on something rare like this. And it would be a hot day in Arendelle before he ever agrees to hand this find over. Once in the safety of his dorm, he immediately began maintenance on it; taking a rag he began to clean off any lingering dirt from the forest – the thorns were the hardest to clean, but he persevered and got the outside rim taken care of before tending to the glass. Once that was done, he hung it on the wall by his desk. Now that it was shining bright, he could start to work on figuring out what kind of power it held.

“Reveal thy secrets.” He commanded.

And reveal it did; the mirror gave a green glow and his reflection was no more, on the other side of the mirror was a bright pink room (it hurt his eyes just by looking at it); from his limited view he got a good look at some mannequins with dresses on them, a desk with a computer and books beside it, a gramophone – strange, but he wasn’t going to judge, and finally sitting on a chaise lounge with a sketchbook was…a pixie. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but she was so small she looked like one; dark navy-blue hair, bluebell eyes that seemed focus, and like the rest of her room she was in that damn shade of pink again. So, from where he was sitting, what exactly did he learn about this strange little pixie and her room? She’s a seamstress like a certain Cinders girl…perhaps the two were similar? No, that’s not right; this girl isn’t in scullery maid clothing, maybe that ‘Darling’ girl? No…that didn’t even remotely made sense…Who else was there that could sew? He narrowed his eyes with a scowl, this was going to bother him for a while now.

“Marinette! It’s almost time to go back to school!” a voice called.

Marinette…an appropriate name for a pixie like her. Still, even though he heard her name; the rules of the fae is for her to _give_ him her name and she would be his. Wait, where the hell did that thought come from? What use would he have for a Cinder/Darling girl? Sure, she can sew but that’s all he knows she’s good for and he has enough servants that could mend his clothing. Shaking his head, he watched as Marinette called back to her mother and got up from where she was sitting. She grabbed her schoolbooks and a blanket from her closet and made her way to the mirror. She stopped and stared, they were locked in a gaze between them – bright green and bluebell…what the hell? Why was his heart stopping at the sight of her? More importantly, could she truly see him?

“Can you see me?” he asked.

Her reaction wasn’t what he was expecting, she screamed and threw the blanket at the glass before rushing away. Malleus heard her cry out for her mother, and…well, he wasn’t certain how she’d react to seeing a strange guy in her daughter’s mirror, it was best to just end the spell and pretend nothing had happened. Once the image had faded, he immediately booted up his computer and went to a streaming service to turn on a horror movie – no doubt someone from his dorm heard the scream from the pixie and he sure as sugar wasn’t going to deal with explaining about the events that had unfolded. It was easier to pass blame on a horror movie he didn’t really care for. It did get him thinking though; did magic not exist in her world? How did she come into possession of this mirror if it didn’t exist? It was a puzzling thought, but wasn’t that the fun of things? Figuring it out and using it to his advantage? His sharp teeth came into view as he grinned at the thought; he had to get through this and go up to her somehow, he had to know more.


	2. First Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for ruining the story of Sleeping Beauty to everyone.

It was official, she had heard it all at this point; magical jewelry, small deities, a lunatic that took advantage of negative emotions, her friend designing for a rock star, being ‘cousins’ with Clara Nightingale, and now a magic mirror with a strange boy inside it. When exactly did her life end up getting this crazy? Chloe just shrugged and listened to Marinette talk about how the mirror came to be and about the strange boy that was on the other side before delving into how she was most likely cursed and would most likely going to die – this was one of her famous anxiety attacks at works; it was usually best to just let her get it out before saying anything. Of course, Chloe was concerned a little bit as well; if there was someone who can turn people into supervillains, there was also a chance of a cursed mirror…there were ways to purify right? Perhaps she should ask Juleka for more details, she seemed to be knowledgeable in that field, if not Juleka than that American boy in Ms. Mendeleiev’s class might know something…he was always working on charms and he lived in a funeral home it would be perfect to get some help from him.

“Mari.” Chloe laid a hand on her shoulder. “Look, we have two occult experts in this school. We can just ask them for help and they can solve this cursed mirror for you.”

Marinette looked up at her friend and let her shoulders drop before nodding; Chloe had a point in having experts in their school, she may have her own powers of creation but a cursed magic mirror was another story altogether. Though, despite the possibility of the mirror being cursed, she had to admit that she was curious about who that boy was. Was he a spirit like Kakuya and the mirror led to the Realm of the Dead? No, if that was the case, she would have some kind of mark indicating her being labeled for death. Perhaps he was trapped in there by his own curse?

“She’s overthinking again.” Sabrina poked Marinette’s arm. “Hey, come back to earth.” She giggled

Marinette blushed and stuck her tongue out at her. “Sorry for being invested in a mystery of my own.”

“It is a curious situation for sure, but you’re not going to get anywhere right now until we talk to the experts.” She pushed her notebook to her. “So, don’t you worry your pretty designer head over it…besides, we need all the focus we can if we’re going to do book reports on classic stories like Sleeping Beauty.” She rolled her eyes.

“It’s a twisted fairytale if we go off the Brother Grimms version.” Chloe huffed. “I mean, a passing king got frisky with her ‘corpse’, you know…for kids.” 

“God, do you have to be a downer Chloe?” Lila spoke up. “Good thing I’m here to tell you that after the maiden had her kids, her mother in law wanted the cook to kill and serve the adorable kids for dinner.”

“Ms. Bustier is definitely going to doll out detention after this.” Sabrina shrugged. “Ah well, her fault for assigning us to do a report on them.” 

Talking about the report for the fairytale actually made things a lot easier for Marinette; her mind wasn’t on her strange mirror and she was able to focus on the now, and that was the current coursework. With school passing by in a blur, it was easier for her and her friends were able to go up to Tori, they didn’t know much about the boy other than he was an American witch and he was dating Juleka’s brother. With a heavy sigh, Marinette brought her case up to him, making sure not to leave out any details that might be important to know when it came to cursed mirrors – after all, there was that doll spirit that lived inside of a mirror and she wasn’t going to risk getting people cursed and killed because she didn’t know what she was up against. Once done, there was nothing but silence between them; Tori was in deep thought, this was a rather unusual case and he had to take time to look at everything from every angle. 

In the end, he asked to see the mirror himself to which Marinette agreed and took him to her house. Once there, he was able to look over the mirror in its entirety; black rimmed and decorated with carvings of thorns, a green glass that had a bit of a shine to it, just by being near it gave him the chills. It was definitely a magic mirror as she had described, but there was something more to it; the bright side was that it wasn’t cursed and Marinette could rest easily at night, but the downside was that there was definitely malicious magic at work from the other side – he couldn’t really place it. He waved his hand over the glass and watched as his reflection vanished and revealed a dorm room; it was dark and the only source of light were lamps that would emit an eerie green glow from them, the boy Marinette mentioned was there at the desk working on something – probably homework. Not wanting to disrupt him from working, Tori immediately ended the spell on the spot before he took a few steps back and went up to the small girl group.

“There’s some good and bad news.” He said. “The bad news is that I’m not familiar with this type of a magic mirror.”

“Then what’s the good news?” Chloe demanded.

“It’s not cursed.” Tori confirmed. “My guess is that this mirror is supposed to act as a doorway between two worlds, however…given that your little ‘friend’ is unable to get out, there’s probably set conditions to follow.”

“How is that good news!” Marinette cried. “What if he gets out?!”

Tori crossed his arms. “Wouldn’t he have come out by now if the link was made?” he asked. “It’s clear he’s not sure how to get to the other side nor does he know what kind of spell the mirror was enchanted with.”

“Alright, but what do we do from here on out?” she asked. “I’m not sure how I feel about having a ‘roommate’ that can peer into my room at any given moment.”

“Hmm…My best advice is to keep it covered when you’re not around or when you need some privacy.” He started out. “I also got a better look at your ‘roommate’ and my guess from his appearance is he’s of the Fae and that brings me to the second part of the fun; do not give him your name, you may tell him but never give it. Just follow the basic rules of the faeries and you should be okay.”

Should be!? What kind of advice was that exactly?! Marinette looked back to the mirror with a hint of unease, sure, she had that moment of rest when she learned that the strange boy might not have enough knowledge of the current mirror to make his way into her world. That was a blessing in itself, but how long until he did find a way? Of course, there was the fact that this person might be that of the Fae and there was one thing they couldn’t stand; iron. Without hesitating, she asked for that metal to place on the ground in front of the mirror so that if the boy did come out, he wouldn’t be able to get far. It was a stretch, but Tori obliged and took out a few iron horseshoes for her – immediately she started to put them in place. She wasn’t going to wake up one night and be face to face with a malicious fae standing over her.

Come nightfall, she covered the mirror and transformed into Ladybug; it was her night for patrol along with Viperion and she wasn’t risking her identity being discovered by the boy in the mirror. Besides, Paris at night always brought a calming feeling over her as she rushed over the rooftops and gliding from her yoyo. Viperion was the same whenever they met up, they made a game of being on call and keeping track on how many tricks they could perform while on patrol; so far Viperion was in the lead whenever he took to the ground and swinging on flagpoles. It was all in good fun and it helped clear their minds of their civilian lives and the stress that came with; it was what she needed after everything that’s been happening. For once, tonight like every other night had been quiet – maybe Hawkmoth is getting tired of the same song and dance they’ve been doing for a year or so now? It was worth the hope. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy the calm and the game she’s playing with her partner.

*

Come morning light, the first thing Malleus did before he had to get ready for school was to look into the mystery of the mirror before him. Alongside the homework he had he also was looking through a book about magic mirrors and what he had found was rather interesting, this mirror was one of the many that brought the new students to the school! There were just a few things that got him concerned; why was the one he had discarded into the forests and how did a mortal girl get the same mirror? What made this mirror different than the others? And why couldn’t he cross over through it? There were just too many questions and as much as he hated to use this route, this was something he would have to talk to Headmaster Crowley about – he was definitely going to lose this mirror and never see it again, it was a given. But until then, he was going to do his own research and that was going to start with watching his unusual little pixie. With a wave of his hand, he brought the image to life…sort of, he was greeted to a blanket covering the glass. Oh, how cute…she was afraid of him. His sharp teeth returned as he leaned back in his desk chair, legs crossed and fingers laced together.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of me, my dear.”

Whatever movement was going on over on the other side of the mirror stopped, his grin grew as he heard footsteps come over and watched as the blanket was removed. His pixie finally decided to unveil herself, she narrowed her eyes at him and clutched it tightly in her hands. It was adorable to say the least, and it just proved one thing about this mirror – not only could they see each other, but they could hear each other…he already knew that, but it was nice to have that double assurance.

“What do you want?” she demanded.

Feisty little thing. “What I want is to know how you came across this mirror.” He said calmly. “How did a little mortal like you come across a Mirror of Darkness?”

“My grandmother found it in the forest during one of her travels and brought it for me.” She answered immediately. “What do you know about this mirror?”

“Traditionally, this is how you would be able to enter the Night Raven College.” Malleus replied calmly. “Strange enough, this one isn’t like the other doors here.” 

“You use mirrors to get to school?” she asked with uncertainty.

Malleus clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Ah, ah, ah, Pixie.” He scolded lightly. “Not how this works, you ask a question first, then I ask you one, you don’t get two in one setting.” He smirked. “But, yes…in a way, we do. Now then, will you be so kind in giving me your name?”

“I’ll just tell you it.” Marinette smirked. “My name is Marinette.”

There was a scowl on his face. “Tch. You’re smarter than most mortals, I’ll applaud you for that.” He waved his hand dismissively. “I already heard your mother call you, so I knew your name already.”

“You just wanted power over me if I had given you my name instead.” Marinette crossed her arms. “Why don’t you give me _your_ name?”

Malleus’ scowl faded and a grin returned, he stood up and bowed at the waist, “My name is Malleus Draconia.” He stood back up and smiled down at her. “Head of the Diasomnia dorm.” He looked to a clock hanging in his room. “And I do hate to cut our time short, but we both have class to go to.” He grabbed his bag and books. “Until next time, Pixie.” 


	3. Origins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who decided to rewatch The Brothers Grimm movie while writing this?

It’s been almost a week since the mirror was given to Marinette and in that week what anyone really knew was the school that Malleus went to was an elite magic school, the dorms were based off of the Great Seven, and that the mirror was one of many to determine if someone has the potential of being a Great Mage, that and they’ve also learned that it was an all-boys school. When it came to Malleus himself, he always deflected when questions about him were asked; it wasn’t as if he were ashamed of who he was, he took great pride in that…but, due to being a faerie the likelihood of getting a straight answer was as likely as Hawkmoth willingly surrendering the missing miraculous of the Butterfly and Peacock.

That’s what led to Joe sitting at his desk and exhausting every resource out there about Night Raven College, it actually got to the point of having to go into the archives of Collinswood as well as making a formal request to his coven’s elders to look into the family’s archives. In all honesty, this was the most aggravating of assignments he’s had to deal with – he didn’t mind learning more about some ‘forbidden knowledge’, they were fun to know about; but, he was learning more than he wanted to know and it was causing him a massive headache to deal with. He was about to call it quits until he saw a phrase that caught his eyes; “The Age of Fairy Tales” there were technically two stories with this title, one was about a war and this one…this one he hadn’t heard of before. Luck was on his side; he may have actually found something solid for the team! With a smile, he immediately grabbed his phone and started dialing Tori’s number, to set up a meeting spot to share his discoveries.

They ended up meeting in Chloe’s room at the Grand Paris, mostly because they didn’t want to risk eavesdroppers or being around the mirror in Marinette’s house. Tori and Luka were seated on the chaise, Chloe, Lila, and Sabrina were on the floor doing their nails, Alya was with Nino – they actually invited themselves along for the ride after learning that Marinette was struggling with something out of her control and were actually here for moral support – they were seated by the balcony window, and Marinette was seated on the bed. Joe on the other hand, was on the floor with the books he had brought – each of them had bookmarks in certain pages. He looked around the room and made sure everyone was here before he started.

“Okay, so…we’re all familiar with the Brothers Grimm.” He started off. “And we all know they wrote the fairy tales we know today; however, it wasn’t always like that, see back in the 1800’s the stories were actually real.”

Alya raised her hand. “Am I safe to assume the covens covered this up?” 

Tori looked at her. “You would be correct, there’s a lot of things that have happened in the world that the magic community had to cover up. Case in point…see the Castlevania series.”

She flinched and bit her lip at the memory, Joe just continued. “Anyway, it was called The Age of Fairy Tales; it was a time where, as I just mentioned, the stories were real. At the time, no-one really batted an eyelash because it started out small; Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and The Frog Prince.” He listed. “True, magic was involved in some of them as well as sightings of a werewolf, but it never got out of control until Sleeping Beauty…And before anyone asks; yes, some parts of that story were true, and no, I am not going to confirm anything.”

“What does this have to do with the mirror?” Chloe demanded.

“I’m getting there.” He explained. “So, with Sleeping Beauty came the introduction to Black Magic among the mortals…or should I call it Shadow Magic, Tori?”

Tori winced. “The Shadow Magic was locked away for a reason; so many lives were lost to Shadow Alchemy and monsters reined, we were called the Hidden Kingdom because of that!” he looked up. “It was brought back once by a witch…well technically she was a faerie, but she still brought it back when she cursed the princess.”

The room went cold, Sabrina looked over with eyes wide. “You mean…Maleficent?” she choked out; Tori’s nod was all she needed.

“Shadow Magic and Fae magic is never a good combination.” Tori confirmed. “Think of it this way; you know how in Dragon Prince there’s primal magic and dark magic? Imagine combining the two, it’s not going to end well for anyone.”

“And that’s where the first Mirror of Darkness came to be.” Joe nodded. “She made it to make it easier to lure the princess to her ‘death’, of course…like all magic users, when it came to things like this they always put precautions in; the mirror’s conditions are the following; passage may granted under the light of the moon – her preferred method and most effective one, a maiden of pure heart may enter through – just in case she couldn’t get to the princess, she could trick her into entering and well…led to her death, and finally – and this is the most convoluted one – a special key to turn the mirror into a door, think of it like…that mirror key from Locke and Key, just minus trapping someone in and slowly killing them.”

“If we’re going to use the domino metaphor; after Maleficent the knowledge of Dark Magic came to be and thus resulted in incidents like Snow White with the Queen, Little Mermaid with Ursula-” Sabrina started out.

“But the Little Mermaid is Hans Christian Anderson.” Alya reminded. 

“That was published in 1837.” Nino looked at her. “Joe said the Age of Fairy Tales was in the 1800’s so it makes sense that another author was dragged into the mix.”

Joe just nodded slowly. “You know how the Blood Countess Elizabeth Bathory went unnoticed until she went after the noble girls? Yeah, that’s the same here; the covens didn’t get involved until after attempted murder number whatever, Dark Magic isn’t something you want to mess with, but hey…here we are today.”

“Malleus said that they use mirrors to get to Night Raven College.” Marinette mentioned. “Did your coven have anything to do with that?” 

“Okay, this is where things get tricky; the general idea is the elders tricked everyone to one place to have a meeting, convincing them that as powerful as everyone is, they could have a realm where they rule. After all, who would want to live in a realm alongside pathetic mortals who possess no magic of their own?” Tori shrugged. “It worked, they agreed, and thus a new realm of existence was made for them. Both Heroes and Villains made the world of their liking…there’s more but that’s going to cause headaches along the way that we’re not going to touch.”

“After that, a balance spell was casted to make everyone believe that what happened were just old wives tales; ‘don’t go into the woods or the big bad wolf will eat you’, and uh…since technically I wasn’t really suppose to share this with everyone; think you guys can keep quiet about this? I really don’t want to have my powers bound.” Joe pleaded.

The room went still once more; this was a lot of information to take in, especially that they now knew that the stories they grew up to as children were real and they were living on another plane of existence altogether. In a way, it made sense, especially with Dracula and the Belmont family; yet somehow it still felt entirely alien to them. What caused a lot of hearts to sink was that the original mirror was in Marinette’s room, they had Maleficent’s mirror and they were able to connect to the other realm – it was abandoned for years and now it resurfaced. There was a silent conversation on what they should do about it since it wouldn’t be as easy as to just simply smash it, otherwise it wouldn’t have been standing to this day. Was there even a way to get around this? 

*****

One week. It took one week to get the headmaster involved, and in that week, he’d make sure to visit his Pixie before they had to part ways. He had learned a lot about her side of the mirror; she was into fashion and she designed her own stuff, her school was a pathetic excuse of an institution – really, a headmaster that plays with toys rather than doing his job? That behavior wouldn’t be accepted in the halls of Night Raven, she had a unique group of friends – one reminded him of Vil…dear lord, he was praying for this pixie’s sanity, and there was a superhero team in Paris. A hero group, how adorable. Supposed there were weirder things in the world than hearing about a ladybug themed superhero and a menagerie of teammates – a fox, turtle, bee, snake, dragon of all things! Of course, none of the information she gave him was useful in the slightest bit, he was nowhere in knowing the powers the mirror held and after the week was up, he had to get Headmaster Crowley involved. He didn’t want to, but there was no other way to go about this.

So, here he sat in the headmaster’s office, watching as the man examined the mirror and even tracing the intricate details as he murmured to himself about the oddity in itself. Finally, what felt like an eternity, the headmaster turned and looked over at him with a curious glint in his glowing eyes.

“Never would I have imagined that a student would have found the Mistress’ Mirror.”

Malleus’ eyes lit up. “The Mistress, you mean…this was Maleficent’s mirror? The nod was his only confirmation. “Headmaster, I need to know how she used this.”

“I’m stopping you right there.” He hissed. “This is not a toy and the person on the other side shouldn’t even have this to begin with, the mortal realm has been living in blissful ignorance of magic and we agreed to keep it that way.”

“Yeah about that, the girl is from a place of superheroes with magical jewelry and is friends with a couple of witches.” Malleus shrugged. “Hey, her words not mine.”

Crowley sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t want you abusing this gift, the Mistress made it for a reason and it sure as heaven wasn’t to go and flirt with a pretty girl.” He ignored the growl his student gave. “Fine, there are a few conditions; one is to wait until the light of the moon graces the mirror, have a maiden of pure heart enter through, or you craft a special key that turns mirrors into a doorway.”

Malleus tapped his fingers in thought; what were the chances of his pixie being a pure hearted maiden? The light of the moon is only temporary and he wanted to visit pixie whenever he blessed well pleased. Key crafting it would be, it shouldn’t be hard to find the spell to recreate the key in question; Sam sold a lot of weird shit as is, he should have some old keys laying around that he could use, Mr. Crewel would assume the spell he was working on would be for extra credit, and as for the rest of his peers…he would worry about them later. It would take a while to get everything set up, so for now, the mirror would just return to his dorm. Thanking his headmaster for everything, he took the mirror back into his arms and made his way back to Diasomnia, doing his best to ignore the glances from the other students that he passed by; doing so brought Silver to his side once again.

Silver was his personal knight (he didn’t really see the need for a knight by his side, but he wasn’t going to deny assistance in carrying the mirror back to his room), he was probably one of few who actually would approach him – well, him and the rest of Diasomnia were the only ones that approached Malleus without flinching. It was always pleasant to have people to talk to, but at the same time it got boring being the same three people over and over. Shaking his head of the thought he arrived at his dorm with Silver and hung the mirror back where it belonged; the Mistress’ Mirror, now that he knew what it was, it was easier to appreciate it.

“Thank you, Silver.” Malleus started. “You may be on your way.”

“My Lord is very invested in his latest find; I only hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Oh, no need to be concerned.” His sharp smile returned. “I know exactly what I’m doing.” He waved his hand over the glass and watched as the scene shifted to the Pixie’s room. She was working on homework and she had headphones on, well…she wasn’t being nice, now was she?

“How the pixie wounds me.” He pouted. “Do you see this, Silver? She’s ignoring us.”

Silver looked at the scene before him and tilted his head in curiosity. “She’s a pretty one, is she the reason you’re invested in the mirror?”

Malleus nodded. “A mortal who hangs out with witches, how often do you hear about that?”

Just as Silver was going to reply, a pillow was thrown at the glass. Oh, Pixie found out about them listening in and talking about her; both eyes were on her scowling face. 

“Do you guys mind?” She demanded.

“No, we don’t mind.” Malleus smirked. “What has Pixie’s mind occupied today?”

“None of your damn business.” She picked up a blanket and stuck her tongue out. “You’re going to have to call back, I’m behind on my work as is and I don’t have the time to humor you today.”

Malleus waved his hand. “Fine by me, I have my own project to work on.”

“Glad we see eye-to-eye.” And with that she covered the mirror up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know, I'm just tired okay?


	4. Getting to Know You

They say all good things must come to an end and it did; Hawkmoth decided to go after Mr. Ramier – aka Mr. Pigeon for the umpteenth time, though he was an easy battle it was getting annoying and she was close to just throwing her history textbook at Hawkmoth’s stupid face. Of course, Gabriel Agreste was still the prime suspect and they almost had him by connecting the grimoire to him, but the bastard seemed to enjoy hiding his tracks every chance he got and it made nailing him hard as diamonds. With a huff, she went to her sewing station and started to work on a dress – someone commissioned her one of her existing designs; a black dress with roses rising up to give the look of the flowers dancing around the wearer. The mirror was left uncovered, over the weekend her little ‘friend’ hadn’t shown his face to her in a while; she figured he was just busy with homework, but it was Monday and during lunch and by now he would be showing up to antagonize her. Actually, now that Marinette had time to think things over, she had to wonder if Malleus was just lonely – sure she saw him with someone else, but maybe they were just classmates and weren’t really close? Looking back at how they were in the past week, she felt like an ass now. Her mind was made up, she was going to work on getting to know him better and leave out the insults or snapping at him…she just had to wait for him to show up on the other side of the mirror.

“Oh, my darling Cinder Pixie, did you miss me?” 

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Marinette turned to the mirror and was ready to come up with a reply but halted. Before her was Malleus, same as ever, but his wrist was in a sling. Just like that, any feelings she had earlier was no replaced with concern for him.

“What happened to your wrist?” she asked.

Malleus looked at it and shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, I just had an accident.” He leaned back in his chair. “I was interrupting anything, was I?”

She shook her head and smirked when he scowled. “It’s nothing I can’t return to.” She set the fabric down. “Actually, I was waiting for you…I wanted to talk and clear the air about a few things.”

“You’ve finally came to your senses and decided to give me your name?” Malleus grinned. “I knew you would come around, Pixie.”

Now it was Marinette’s turn to scowl at him. “No, you jerk, I was actually going to apologize for being an ass to you; I figured the reason you were picking on me was because you were lonely.”

“I don’t know where you got that inane theory but…I suppose if this is your weird way of staring over, I can comply to it.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for being an asshole to you.”

Marinette grinned and straightened up. “Good! Now we can move on to the other part of the reason I was hoping to talk to you; I wanted to try and get to know you better, since we’re going to be sharing the same space, it only makes sense we get to know each other.”

There was a look of surprise from her faerie friend before he nodded. From there on they started asking questions about one another; Marinette had learned that Malleus’ favorite class was science and alchemy, who his dormmates were and how he viewed them (she got a chuckle when she learned that two of them proclaimed themselves as his knights), what he like to do for fun (and how he got the mirror in the same breath), and even who he was a descendant from. In turn, Malleus learned that his pixie loved history class, dreamed of being a famous designer one day, how she felt about her school, who her friends were and what their dreams were, and her homelife as a baker’s daughter. 

Malleus pressed on to have her show off her designs and he was floored the moment he saw the designs from her sketchbook, even more so when she detailed everything from the gargoyles inspired gown – WE had amazing architect, she had to draw it down! – the beautiful sun-kissed sundress from a tropical sunset on the beach; every design was taken into consideration and every detail was thought out and drawn out with care. Damn this mirror, he wanted to be able to reach out and trace the designs. He could only imagine what they would look like when they were brought to life; his wait was short lived when Marinette had brought out the dress she was working on (okay, it was missing a sleeve, but she was getting there); a mermaid style black dress that had a bit of a shine when the light hits it just right, and soon there were going to be roses fluttering upwards. He could only imagine how lucky the person who commissioned that dress was; they were going to be the Belle of the Ball – unless a jealous stepsister goes after it, but for the time being he was just going to admire the beauty and listen to the pixie go into full detail about the dress. 

“And the roses are going to have a rhinestone in the center to give an extra shine to them!” Marinette chimed. “Clara’s going to look like a princess when I’m done with her.”

“It would really sell the look if you used actual rubies.” Malleus smirked. 

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. “Sorry, but I seem to be flat broke when it comes to getting actual gemstones.”

“If there’s no time limit, give me some time and I’ll bring some over.” He grinned. “Or, you could ask your witchy friends to loan you some of theirs.”

She held her hand up. “Nuh uh, no.” she scolded. “Tori needs those rubies for grounding charms and The House of Dracul hands them for new coven members! I’m not going to be selfish and ask for them just to make the dress more expensive than it should be!”

Malleus huffed. “You are quite the annoying self-righteous little Pixie, aren’t you?” he gently laid his good arm over his wounded one. “You remind me way too much of certain royalty.” 

“I’ll take that as your way of a compliment.” She smirked. “But I’m serious when I say I’m not just going to up and ask them for rubies out of the blue, the rhinestones will work and that’s the end of this.”

“Very well, but I am serious when I say when I show up in your world that I’m bringing gemstones for your gowns.” He fell silent. “For the right price of course.”

Marinette leaned a little close to the mirror; “And what is your price?” she asked.

Malleus gave his sharp-toothed grin, “I ask for one thing; _**give**_ me your name.” 

“That’s not going to happen and you know that.”

“You’re no fun.” He huffed. “Honestly, what’s the point of picking on superstitious mortals if they don’t go along with the fun?”

“Wait…you’re telling me you wouldn’t have control over me?”

Malleus sighed. “Since I was born of the faeries, I do have my own set of rules; I cannot lie, so no…you giving me your name wouldn’t allow me power over you. It’s an old wives’ tale, I’m not sure how that mess started, but it’s older than that of The Age of Fairy Tales.”

Marinette just looked at him in disbelief. “Then why were you so insistent on it!”

“You were fun to tease and I had hoped you would have given in by now.” He shrugged. “Just a game and nothing more.”

“Augh! You’re so insufferable…you…you…Emo knockoff of Maleficent you!” she cried.

His gaze turned sharp and his scowl returned, his teeth looked slightly sharper than before. “Disrespect the Witch of the Thorns again, I dare you.”

Marinette took a step back and raised her hand in defense, “Tikki, spots on!” it was out of reflex that she just called her transformation. Standing now in front of Malleus was Ladybug, one of the superheroes that his pixie had told him about; well, this explained why she knew about them, she was one of them! He backed off, this was a losing battle – for one there was a mirror in the way, and two, he didn’t know much about the powers of the Ladybug so diving in headfirst was a fool’s mistake.

“Well, well, it seems I have to give my pixie a new nickname.” Malleus smirked.

Ladybug narrowed her eyes. “Try that again and I’ll leave you tied up on the Eifel tower when you get here!” his smirk grew and she blushed. “GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE GUTTER RIGHT NOW!”

“Or what?” he challenged. “You’re going to punish me?” he leaned close. 

“That does it! This conversation is over!” She threw a cover over the mirror and detransformed. “Spots Off.”

“Oh, come on Pixie.” Malleus called. “I didn’t mean it!”

*****

Malleus was acting strange. Okay no, he was acting stranger than usual; Azul had noticed his fellow dorm leader would leave the grounds, that wasn’t anything new; it was when he came back with that mirror that things got a little weird. He would spend his entire lunch period in his room and come out with a grin on his face and an extra pep in his step. Then there were the events of last week where he had taken the mirror to the Headmaster’s office and then returning to Diasomnia with a look of determination on his face, sometime after that, this weekend Malleus had an accident in the science room – he _never_ once had an accident in there; there was definitely something up, and he was going to figure out the cause of it, he’d stake his name as head of Octavinelle on it.

“Jade, Floyd.” He called. “I have a little job for you.”

The twins made their way out of the shadows and appeared with a grin of their own; this usually meant some kind of spy work and they were skilled in that field. 

Jade adjusted his fedora and uniform. “Who is our target?” he asked.

“Oh, just Malleus is all.” Azul looked over his staff. “He’s been acting quite unusual as of late, and I’m curious as to what he’s up to.”

“Draconia? Mr. Tall, Dark, and Reclusive Draconia?” Floyd asked. “When isn’t he acting unusual, he’s always exploring abandoned places by himself.”

“And he’s been walking on cloud nine ever since he came back with that mirror he found.” He turned to them. “Find out what’s so special about it and report back to me.”

“He keeps his room locked; it won’t be easy.” Jade said with a sigh. “Shame there isn’t a way in.” he brought out a lockpick from his jacket.

“Oh my gosh, Jade…what is that?” Floyd asked with false surprise. “That looks…and I could be guessing here, that looks like a lockpick set!”

“I think you might be right, Floyd.” Jade said with the same tone. “Suppose we better try this out and see if we can get into Draconia’s room.”

Azul just shook his head; he never really understood the mindset of twins. Well, they always got the job done, that’s all that mattered to him.


	5. I don't have a name for it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Look, I'm mixing original and disney again.
> 
> I COUNT SEQUELS AS CANON. LET ANASTASIA HAVE A HAPPILY EVER AFTER 20FOREVER

As much fun as he had with his Pixie and would rather be with her than in class, he did have to keep his grades up. The best thing about magic was that he could have the notes write themselves as he dozed off during history; honestly, some of the stuff they were touching up on was common knowledge and wasn’t entirely needed. Still, here he sat listening to his teacher Mr. Trein talk about the Great Seven. Oh sure, there were others out in the realm, but none of them could hold a candle to the Great Seven; that washed up captain could never compete with the King of Beasts – sure the Captain could lead well and was tactical, but he was generally selfish and put his own wants and needs before the crew. The King of the Beasts took over the throne and united Lions and Hyenas without prejudice, a just ruler if you asked him. Same thing like that greedy pig from the swamp, she could never advance along the way unlike the Beautiful Queen; that beauty was earned, she worked hard and always looked flawless every time. Money never interested her – of course, being royalty was an added perk – she was a hard worker and got the job done each time; heck, it was because of her that they had the Queen’s Apple today! And what did the bayou babe do? Just had a child mine for a diamond before attempted murder? So memorable…not.

“Draconia.” Trein’s voice called him out of his daze. “Now that you’re back with us, could you tell us why we celebrate The Witch of the Thorns?”

Malleus grinned. “Certainly sir.” He stood and cleared his throat. “As we all know, it started with the Princess’ birth; a royal christening was held sometime afterwards, and with such an event everyone was invited no matter your status in society, to not be invited was considered to be an insult.” He started off. “The King, Steffan, made the error when he invited the ‘Good Fairies’ but not the Mistress. When Mistress Maleficent showed up, she gave the king a chance to apologize but he threw that right in her face…she punished the kingdom for their hostile behavior and their insulting ways by placing the Princess in the hundred-year sleep and covered the kingdom in thorns.”

“You have been paying attention, good.” He nodded and turned back to the class. “As you’ve no doubt heard, we have wonderful people but we also have not-so-wonderful people; a case in point would be my twin sister, Tremaine, I won’t argue that she does deserve to have her eyes pecked out – which, if you ask me was too kind for her behavior towards family. In any case, Miss Ella is celebrating her anniversary, and with that comes this announcement; my niece, Anastasia, is finally engaged.”

There were cheers in the room; everyone knew the story about Anastasia and the baker she fell in love with and everyone agreed that she deserved it. Of course, they also thought she should have had a prince, but she was happy with the baker and that’s all they cared about. The cheers got louder when it was announced that Ella was going to provide the venue for her, the princess may be a goodie two-shoes, but she never held any ill thoughts to Anastasia and that was all they needed. Malleus on the other hand, his eyes lit up as a spark of an idea came to him; his Pixie told him that she was going to be a designer and it would be considered a great honor for her to design the wedding dress for Anastasia, he just had to get the teacher to spill about the measurements and he could get to work. 

“Mr. Trein,” Malleus spoke up. “Permit me to speak but, I know of a designer who would be honored to make Lady Anastasia’s wedding dress.”

The teacher narrowed his grey eyes. “Is that right, Draconia? Very well, I would like to meet this designer of yours.”

“Of course, sir.”

Okay, that was not what he was expecting; but he didn’t dare argue with his teacher; Mozus Trein was almost like his sister and that would be…they both had a glare that was the stuff of nightmares. He wasn’t going to tango with that; still, with him knowing about the Pixie this could actually work in so many ways; a teacher knowing could speed up the process of having that Mirror Key made, Marinette would be commissioned and it would help her career if she does this, and his teacher would get to see his niece have a one of a kind wedding dress that no other tailor could compete with. It was a win-win for everyone!

When the class had ended, Malleus told Mr. Trein about everything regarding the mirror, even though the expression hadn’t changed on the man’s stoic face, he was interested to say the least. After hearing his student out, the two made their way to the dorm; Malleus could feel his heart race, this was it, everything was falling into place he just needed his Pixie to agree to the commission. After all, a wedding takes time to plan, so she had time to get the dress made and through the mirror come full moon!

Once in front of the mirror, Malleus waved his hand over to reveal the other side; sure enough, Marinette was finishing the dress from a few nights ago. She was with the client – some brunette that had a tacky mosaic dress. Thank the gods that Marinette was there to give this girl a better dress; he felt his eyes bleed just by looking at that white monstrosity of a dress. The dress was coming along wonderfully, the roses flying up were an amazing touch with the careful embroidery – done by hand too nonetheless! Both he and his teacher were in awe at the sight of it, the pixie really has outdone herself!

“Marinette, I don’t mean to cause a scare; but there’s a boy with horns right over there.” The brunette pointed to the mirror.

“Of all the times he chose to visit.” Marinette groaned and paused in a stitch. “Give me a second, let me deal with him.”

“You have me concerned; I feel like that mirror should be burned.” She winced.

“Don’t worry, Malleus is harmless.” Marinette assured, she turned to the mirror and crossed her arms. “Malleus, now is not a good time, I’m with Clara right now.”

“For once, I’m not here to antagonize you, Pixie.” Malleus was standing straight and motioned his teacher over. “Meet my history teacher, his niece is getting married and we’d like you to make a wedding dress for her.”

“You want me to what now?” Marinette asked, her bluebells widening in surprised. “Uh, sure I can do that; I’m going to need the bride’s measurements though.”

“Say no more.” Mozus wrote them down and showed them to the designer. “I can’t express how thankful I am that you’re doing this for us, I’ll have the payment ready when the dress is complete.”

There was something about that tone that made it near impossible to argue against. “Of course, sir…consider me starting it right after I’m done here.”

What had she gotten herself into?

*****

“Clara was so close to smashing the mirror, it wasn’t even funny.” Marinette groaned.

Lila shook her head and just took a drink from her smoothie. “At least you’re getting commissions from other realms, you’re going further than Gabriel could ever hope to dream.” She teased.

Marinette stuck her tongue out at her and took out the sketchbook. “Well, this dress isn’t going to design itself; I’m thinking blush for the color, it feels right somehow.” She started to go full on into details.

As she was doing this, Lila was texting Chloe about the events; while this is great and all, they were still worried about a lot of things. A full moon was all Malleus needed to enter through and walk the streets of Paris, and if Hawkmoth akumatizes him…heaven help everyone. Well, he has been exhausting his powers on Mr. Ramier, so maybe he’ll leave their Fae friend alone? Augh this was just so aggravating, she just wanted one night where she can go to sleep and not have to wake up from fright because of an evening akuma. 

“What about doing some flowers on the bodice?” Lila asked. “Oh! Like a belt of heliotropes! Tori said they mean eternal love!”

Marinette’s eyes shone bright, “And they’re a purple color so they’re perfect with the blush colored dress!” she immediately added it to the waist. “Speaking of Tori, how are the sessions going?”

Lila shrugged. “They’re going fine; I still have nightmares from when I was Volpina, I seriously don’t know how he can handle being the Hooded Assassin either.” She admitted. “But yesterday we were doing karaoke to Kiss songs, and that helped the worries some.”

“It’s hard to be worried when you Shout it Out Loud.” Marinette laughed at Lila’s groan. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”

“I’m starting to suspect Chat Noir visits you a lot, you’re as bad as he is with the puns.”

Marinette just grinned. “You know what they say about feeding strays, feed them once and they keep coming back to you.”

Lila stuck her tongue out. “Well what about you? Are things with your mirror friend any better?”

“Surprisingly yes, aside from the scary teacher moment; we’ve actually gotten to know each other a lot better and…there’s been times he hasn’t really been antagonistic and…” she was a light pink. “Like we were talking about movies and he was really into this one horror movie – despite me not being into them, he was just so happy talking about it and the way he got into detail about the effects and-”

“Oh lord, it’s the Adrien crush all over again!” Lila laughed. “You just developed a crush on a faerie!”

Marinette blushed. “Not true! I don’t even like him!”

“Oh no?” Lila smirked. “Let’s make a bet; if I’m right about you two becoming a thing, you have to make me a dress for free and if I’m wrong…then I’ll come to school and do the Pennywise dance during lunch while saying “Marinette is right and I was wrong” at the top of my lungs.”

“Deal!” She shook on it. “Prepare to lose then, because I’m not going to fall for that faerie.”

Lila shook her hand. “You have a type, you will fall for him.”


	6. Face to Face

Manon was running around with the twins; originally it was just supposed to be Manon, but Alya had come down with strep and Marlena was stressing out in finding someone last minute. She didn’t mind, she was getting paid for this and she made a deal with the girls; as long as they behaved and let her get the wedding dress done, they were free to play around. It was a solid deal; she was seated in the living room sewing the petticoat inside – the idea was for the dress to be fit and flare but the petticoat was going to give it a mock ballgown appearance – the dress was actually coming along nicely; it was a blush charmeuse – light and rich with lovely drape and glossy sheen, purple lace heliotropes covering the fabric, and along the sweetheart neckline were embroidered petals of red roses. 

All that was needed were the sleeves. She had some ideas as to how to go about it; off the shoulder to give a nod to the golden dress Belle wore, full lace sleeves like Cinderella, sleeves to drape her arms like flowers…actually she might go with that to keep with the flower theme. Lace for the base of the sleeves and detailed embroidery was the way to go in situations like this, but for now it was time for a break. Standing up and stretching, she turned to where the girls were; they were in front of the TV watching her friends Mireille and Aurore as the Weather Girl, knowing that one of their favorite programs would be coming on after her. It was actually so adorable, even when Etta thought of an idea to recreate program, they were going to use the pagoda umbrella from Marinette’s chaise lounge and be the Aurore to Mireille. Without a second to spare, the trio rushed to her room. Ah, the wonders of kids; Marinette just smiled and went to the kitchen to get lunch going for the four of them while her parents worked the bakery downstairs. 

Just as she was getting the plates, she heard the girls scream and come rushing downstairs. Was it an akuma? She rushed over to their side and knelt down to their eyelevel. 

“Hey, hey…it’s okay.” She said gently. “What’s wrong?” 

It was Manon who spoke as she held onto the ladybug doll. “There’s a monster in your room!” she cried. “He-he had horns like a dragon!” 

“A monster with horns?” Marinette narrowed her eyes to the ladder leading to her room. “Well then, I suppose a knight is needed to take care of it.” She grabbed a frying pan and made her way to her room.

Today was the day, it took a few cups of coffee and sleepless nights to get the key completed – okay, he actually caved and agreed to let others help him; only Silver, Sebek, and Lilia knew of the project and every one of the four worked tirelessly to create the Mirror Key that would allow him access to Marinette’s world with no problems (alright, he promised to introduce her to the rest of the dorm when he was able to). The blessing about weekends was that he would be able to stay out as long as he wanted without having to worry about hurrying back to get to his next class, that and he would be able to see progress on the wedding dress before his teacher – memo to self; ask Marinette to take the dress back with him for Miss Anastasia’s first fitting to make sure everything was in order.

Inserting the key into the mirror, he gave it a turn before pushing the glass forward like a door. His heart stopped when he stepped through and looked around the Pixie’s room, it was brighter than he remembered; still way too much pink, but she made it work out. He took his time taking in everything about her room; her sewing station was neat and organized – trashcan was filled with scrap fabric and thread, pictures of designs were on a corkboard with notes – a computer space for schoolwork and home to various fashion catalogs, chaise lounge with a pagoda umbrella and a dragon figurine, one place on the wall was home to pictures of her and her friends – he couldn’t help but smirk at a group of trio; anyone with a brain knew they were the future heads of the covens that gifted the realm he lived in, he knew Pixie was friends with witches, but to be friends with three of the powerful witches known? Oh, how she surprises him.

His sightseeing was cut short when he heard someone climbing up to the room he was in; ah, it must be his pixie. Nope, it was…a set of children, strange, didn’t Marinette say she was an only child? His glowing green eyes met with the wide fearful eyes of the three girls, he barely had the chance to ask about his Pixie before they rushed out of the room screaming. Something deep in his gut told him that this visit wasn’t going to go well.

“Scaring little girls, Malleus?” Marinette was there with a frying pan and an annoyed expression.

“My apologies, I’ll ask my crystal ball when you have company over before I pop in to say hi.”

Marinette wasn’t budging. “You made a mirror key, didn’t you?”

He grinned showing her his sharp teeth again. “Did one of your coven friends tell you about that? You’ll be happy to know that yes, I did and I brought you a gift.” He held out a satchel to her.

Marinette sighed and just guided him back downstairs, she wasn’t entirely trusting of this faerie lurking around in her room while she wasn’t there. Smiling at the girls, she assured them that Malleus was relatively harmless and that if he did try anything she was armed – that seemed to put the trio at ease and come out from hiding behind the couch. Once everything was said and done, she turned to Malleus and kept a straight face – it was hard to, he actually looked…well handsome in person; she was able to see his bright green eyes, the details of the horns, and pale skin that was brought out from his dark uniform. 

“Right then, you said you had something for me?” she asked.

Malleus grinned and poured the contents of the bag out onto the table; to her surprised they were rubies. Genuine rubies. She turned back to him and his grin got a tad wider, “I told you I would you bring you rubies when I arrived in your world.”

Marinette just picked one up and stared at it, “Where did you get them?” she forced out. “I swear if you robbed someplace!”

“Relax, I got them from the Dwarves’ mine, true the magic stones are no longer there but you can still find precious jewels like rubies.” He turned his gaze to the dress on the table in the living room and made his way over to it. “Oh? Is this Miss Anastasia’s wedding dress?”

“Be careful with it!” she rushed and defended it. “I’ve already spent my morning on the embroidery and I am not having this ruined.”

“I’m sorry, did you say you worked on it all morning?” he looked at the clock, it read one in the afternoon.

“Yes, and I was going to get lunch going for the four of us.” She pointed to herself and the three girls.

“No, you’re not.” He held his hand out. “Hands, now.” He didn’t wait for a reply, he just took her hand and looked her palms over; calloused, needle pricks, an indentation of where she held the needle. “That’s what I thought, you’ve done enough already.” 

“I’m not ordering takeout.” She huffed. “We’re having a homemade lunch and that’s the end of it.”

He just made his way to the kitchen and removed his gloves to show slightly sharpened nails. “Then you girls relax and I’ll take care of lunch preparations; now then, does anyone have specific allergies?”

Marinette just stared. “You’re going to cook for us? Oh, this I have _got_ to see.”

*****

Manon didn’t know what Marinette’s relationship with the scary monster boy was, but he was a good cook; he looked like one of those fancy chefs at the Grand Paris with the way he was gliding around the kitchen and making everything as perfect as he could – all for a delicious salmon dish (of course, she and Ella and Etta both agreed they could go without the vegetables that came with it). She and her friends had learned a lot of things about this strange boy; he and Marinette were pen pals, and whenever they get into contact on facetime, they always butted heads, but he was never mean he just liked to play jokes on her. He was a fairy too which she was certain was a lie – fairies were small and had wings, he was a teenager and had horns. 

“Is he your boyfriend?” Etta asked Marinette

“Oh my god, no!” Marinette cried.

He thought he could hide it, but Manon knows; the expression monster boy had was easy to see – he looked slightly offended at first before recovering. He liked Marinette, it was clear he just didn’t know how to go about it he was just a shy prince and needed a confident princess like Marinette to bring him out of his shell! 

Sensing her gaze on him, Malleus turned to Manon and saw a knowing grin on her face. Just what was she thinking about? Whatever, it didn’t really matter to him; chances are she was just thinking up of someway to cause some mischief and give Marinette grey hairs. He dabbed his mouth with a napkin before standing up and taking his plate to the kitchen.

“Well, as much fun as this had been; I’m afraid I have to return to my dorm…I have to meet with some people, simple dorm master business, nothing too exciting.” He shrugged.

Marinette stood and helped him with the dishes. “If you’re sure, um…thank you for making lunch.” An idea came to her. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

She hurried out of her home and went to the bakery downstairs, Malleus just stared after her; that was weird, where was she going? And was she really that trusting in leaving her along with these three kids? He shook his head and huffed, what a peculiar pixie.

“You like her, don’t you?” Manon asked.

His heart stopped for a moment; it was true she was cuter in person but… “I honestly don’t know where you got that notion from.” 

Ella pouted, “But she’s really nice! She makes cookies, pretty dresses, and she’s always helping people! She’s a princess!”

“And that’s enough for me to like her?” Of course, it was, heck he would propose right now – whoa! Where in heaven’s name did that come from?! She’s a mortal girl that has magical jewelry that turns her into some ladybug themed Magic Girl, he’s only known her for a month now! 

“You brought her rubies!” Etta chimed. “You like her! You like Marinette!”

He shushed them. “Keep it down.” He backed off. “Okay, I find…some things about her attractive…” the knowing smirks from the kids brought a light pink to his pale face. “Look, even if did like her, it wouldn’t work; we’re from two different realms.”

“But you found a way here,” Manon had her baby doll eyes. “You can use that way to see her anytime and take her on romantic dates!”

Just how smart were these kids? What kind of parents did these three have? Before he could even react, Marinette came back with a box that had a company logo – her family’s company logo. She handed the box to him and smiled bright (and causing his heart to stop again).

“They’re for your meeting.” Marinette explained. “I figured you might want them, they’re a new recipe too and they were just made today!”

Malleus just stared at her before opening the box; it was filled with red macarons – she later confirmed they were red velvet and cherry flavored. He looked back up to her and cleared his throat; “Thank you, Pixie.” He bowed his head slightly. “I’ll let you know how they taste the next time I visit…um…I’ll see you around.” He just turned and rushed to where the mirror was. 

He wasn’t going to fall in love with her. He _wasn’t_ going to fall in love with her. He _**wasn’t** _going to fall in love with her. 

Once back in his dorm and making sure the mirror was back to normal, Malleus sat on the bed and took one of the sweet treats out before taking a bite; taste buds were soaring sky high, it was sweet and tart from the two flavors and had a smooth silky finish to them. 

He was going to fall in love with her. Damn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember when I started Collinswood, I had a fan drew my boy Tori. I was super happy...I have to wonder will this get popular enough to have Marinette/Malleus fanart?


	7. Heartfelt Chat

Since then, life was somewhat normal; Malleus had been updating his teacher on the progress of the dress, attending classes as normal – and enjoying a macaron whenever he was working; that was another normal in his life, every morning Marinette would knock on the mirror to wake him and convince him to use the key only to be presented with a box of the latest baked good of the day. So far in that week it’s been macarons, croissant, a Tart Tatin (Seriously when did she have the time to make that?), creeps, and now today was Palmiers. Honestly, that girl had way too much time on her hands when she wasn’t working on dresses – eh, he at least got free pastries out the deal, he would take waking up early enough in the morning if it meant getting something to eat during classes (just not science, he wasn’t _that_ reckless).

The new normal was still taking time to get used to; along with him receiving delicious pastries for class, he found himself returning to Marinette’s side with gemstones for her to work with. He was still asking himself why he was going the extra milestone for her, sure he was falling for that cute freckled face and she was going the extra mile for him by making sure he’s taking care of himself…and they would sit and listen to Jagged Stone while they would work on homework – augh it’s only been a week and already his life is spiraling out of control! That does it; he was going to talk to the Heartslabyul dorm, if anyone knows anything about the heart it would be them (next to the Headmaster, and he’s not going back to him again).

“Malleus!” came a cheerful sounding voice. “Hugs!” 

“Leech, I will give you five seconds to let go of me.” Malleus growled out.

Floyd just hugged him tighter, “But Malleus, we never get to see you outside of class these days.” He pulled back and stood with his arms behind him, and tilting his head to the side. “You’re always cooped up in your room, you don’t even show up to the lounge for your favorite drink.” He pouted.

Malleus rolled his eyes, “I’ve just been busy being in contact with my tailor.” He explained.

“Ah yes, your mysterious tailor that’s making the wedding dress.” Floyd nodded. “How is it coming along?”

“It’s coming along nicely; the themed it romantic blessing.” Malleus had a smile. “laced heliotropes cover the blush dress, red rose petals around the sweetheart neckline, and the sleeves are adorned with stephanotis.”

“Eternal love, happy love, and happiness in marriage.” Floyd listed off. “And the blush color, aren’t wedding dresses supposed to be white for purity?”

Malleus nodded “Depends where you’re from; before the white dress, if you were to be married you would be wearing the nicest dress you owned – typically the one you wore to church.” He shrugged. “Of course, in my tailor’s case the color white from her culture is synonymous with death and funerals.”

Floyd just made the ‘oh’ motion. “I suppose blush dresses have been a thing now for some time.” He shrugged. “Are you going to be coming over to the Monstro Lounge? I’m not kidding when I say we missed you.”

“Afraid I have other engagements to attend to.” 

Floyd pouted and watched as the Diasomnia dorm master left, once Malleus was out of view, his pout turned into a grin as he turned to Jade’s hiding spot and held up the key in his hand. “I believe it’s time we visit Azul.”

Jade walked up and nodded. “Let’s be on our way, we have a debtor to meet with later today.”

*****

“And that’s been my weekend in a nutshell.” Marinette laid on the bed with a huff. “And my week in general, I have more gemstones than I know what to do with.” 

Chloe paused in doing Sabrina’s nails and looked over. “Easy, you embellish your dresses with them.” She said like it was obvious. “You’ll have one of a kind dresses that Gabriel Agreste would kill for, heck, even my mom would kill to have one.” 

“Minus the anarchy comment from Chloe, she’s right.” Sabrina commented. “You should embellish them into your dresses, and any leftovers can be used as accessory pieces.”

“And you’re already partnered with Tori in that department.” Lila said, flipping through Netflix. “Alright, because I can’t find a damn thing to watch, we’re watching The Mask of Zorro.”

Marinette sat up and sighed. “Well, that solves one problem…I guess I can use the pearls Malleus brought me and add them to the rose neckline.” She muttered. “Give them a dewdrop appearance.”

“Diamonds.” Chloe fixed. “And as for your second problem; kiss him and see what happens.”

“Do what now?!” Marinette screamed.

This was the price she paid when she agreed to the all-girls sleepover. She had hoped to get some insight or advice from her friends about the dilemma that surrounded her and Malleus; she had no idea why she was going the extra mile for him – okay, yeah she makes him fresh pastries to start the morning, but that’s because he has an important role at the school and she always brought something for the student council meetings at her school, it made sense right? And the gemstones were just given to her to help her future lines along…Then again, she invited him to work on assignments together but there wasn’t anything attached to that! They just wanted to make sure they stay on top of their classes, and having a study buddy was always the right way to go. That’s all there is, she just wanted to help Malleus stay focus during important dorm master meetings and to keep his grades up, her friends think differently though if Chloe is suggesting she kisses him.

Rose finally made her way up to Marinette and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You’re still hung-over Adrien, close your eyes?” she watched as Marinette did so. “Okay, so pretend that Adrien doesn’t exist; I want you to describe Mr. Perfect to us.”

Marinette nodded, she did have a crush on the blond model; but his heart belonged to Kagami and she would never interfere with his happiness. Clearing her mind, she took a steady breath and began; “Well; he has to be someone I can have witty banter with and be willing to have a conversation if anything goes wrong.”

“Always a good trait, what else?” Rose pressed on. 

A soft blush graced her face. “Hardworking for sure, ambitious is always a good trait. I would like it if he helped around the house too, he definitely needs to know how to cook.” 

“Which unfortunately, you wouldn’t get from Adrien, according to Tori when he tried teaching him; he nearly set fire to the stir fry!” Chloe huffed. “What do you want Mr. Perfect to look like?”

Marinette let out a laugh. “Tall, beautiful long black hair, piercing green eyes that could stare into the soul, elegant and refined, but also a mischievous smile on his face.” She stopped when she heard laughter and opened her eyes. “What? What’s so funny?”

“Marinette, you just described Malleus!” Lila was laughing and laying on the floor. “I called it! You were going to fall for him!”

She was a blushing mess. “N-No I’m not!” she choked out.

“You give him _First Day Release_ of the new flavors; you never do that to your friends – we always get the new releases on the second day; you’re a creature of habit so don’t deny it.” Sabrina pointed out. “You invite him to your room to study, you make breakfast for him, you’re basically married at this point!”

Marinette hid her face into a pillow. “Noooo” she whined. “I’m not falling for him; I can’t fall for him!”

Lila got up and sat beside Marinette with a grin. “So, I was thinking, I’ve had my eye on that sunset dress you designed…and I’ve decided to have that as my prize.”

Never make a bet when it came to the heart, that was a lesson Marinette learned the hard way. But…she wasn’t really falling for Malleus, the Fae from the mirror, was she?

*****

He’s truly seen it all, Riddle watched as Malleus came to him and some of his dormmates about his problem. From the start he was interested because of the Magic Mirror that seemed to be the root of everything that was happening; but what threw him out of the loop was learning that the cause of his problems was because of a girl. A girl that Malleus had described as a pixie; small, cute (a word he’d never thought he’d hear Malleus say), sweet and hardworking, she always smells like sugar every day. Yes, Riddle has seen it all in Wonderland, but this was madness he couldn’t comprehend, it was clear that Malleus liked this girl and he was going on about how he was confused about the feelings he had? It’s official, Malleus and the Mad Hatter were related.

“Close your eyes, idiot.” Riddle ordered. “I want to try something.”

Malleus looked at the redhead confused but did so. 

“Now then, pretend that this Pixie doesn’t exist…I want you to describe the maiden you want as your princess.”

That was easy; “She has to be a hardworking girl, ambitious in her goals, kind and forgiving but also fierce like a warrior. Crafty and always open for conversations and banter; I want to help her if there’s anything troubling her and the only way, I can do that is if she talks to me.”

“Sentimental, but realistic; now what about appearance? Is there anything you want her to look like?”

His heart stopped; “Beautiful bluebell eyes that holds the sun in them, light freckles grace her face, dark blue hair that’s been blessed by the ocean itself.” He stopped when he heard laughter, he opened his eyes and glared at the laughing four.

Ace was holding his side “I want you to repeat to yourself the description; that’s the same description you gave us about your pixie!” he laughed. “You’re whipped, Malleus! Your heart is yearning for your pixie!” 

“I came here for advice, not for-”

“Just kiss her and see if she accepts your feelings.” Deuce said calmly. “If that’s too forward, why not present her flowers and just tell her you like her? You’re already giving her jewels, giving her flowers won’t be too out of the blue.”

Malleus just stared; unbelievable, but true…Alright, so his heart was singing for Marinette; but how would that even work? Okay, true he had the mirror key, but there had to be a more solid way to be able to come and go for dates and other things. That would have to be the next problem right now…he had to find a way to court her. Damn this heart of his. 

“Alright…but what kind of flowers should I get?” he finally asked.

The room went quiet, he was serious? This boy had a long way to go; and the first thing on the list was to give him a quick rundown on some flower recommendations for confessing a first time love.


	8. Uninvited Guests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While Marinette is away, Tori shall attempt to watch over the house for her.
> 
> Also hey look, it's the next pairing of the fic.

While Marinette was with the girls for the night, Tori was at the bakery; he was only there because Marinette had some trust issues with Malleus entering her home while she was away. It was an okay job; he was tending to her plants for the time being and was even relaxing on the chaise with some magic related homework of his own. Besides, her parents liked him enough to watch over the house while they went out for a couple’s dinner after closing up shop for the night and he was alright with that; house sitting managed to get a lot of work done for some reason – it was probably due to the fact he was in a different environment. Of course, he also got to admire the wedding dress that his friend had been working on for a few days now; it was so beautiful and smooth to the touch that the mannequin wasn’t doing it justice, he wanted to see the bride in it and have her princess moment; plus, Marinette gave him a special job and that was to make accessories to jack the bride up in – and who was he to deny such a request? He had finished a gold heart locket and embedded with diamonds and emeralds, and of course who was he to deny engraving a flower on the back? Nothing too exciting, just a simple amaryllis flower. The only thing he had to make was a tiara for the veil to rest in, and he was already thinking up good gems and flowers to use; Miss Anastasia was going to be a princess, he swore it as Ra was his witness. 

Standing up, Tori stretched to get some of the knots out of his shoulder from spending however long on the lounge; it’s been some time, he thought about getting some food and then texting his boyfriend to see if anything new was going on over on his end – probably not, but it was a good conversation starter that usually led to them just being dorks with one another. Just as he was about to open the trap door and make his way to the kitchen, he heard a click from the mirror behind him; it was probably Malleus – he assumed – as he heard the glass being pushed forward and footsteps were heard behind him. 

“She’s not home.” Tori turned around to face him, “Her rules were that there were to be no…” 

His sentence was cut off when he saw that it wasn’t the strange Fae that had entered the room but three unique individuals; the first was a young man with silvery blue, wavy hair that is styled longer on the left that rested under a black fedora with a grey bow around it and a purple seashell on the bow. His eyes are also the same silvery-blue color as his hair and he wore a pair of silver glasses. He has a beauty mark below his lip on the left side of his face. His outfit consists of a white dress shirt, a grey coat over an unbuttoned black double-breasted suit, a cool-toned grey scarf, and white gloves that held a black cane with a silver handle resembling an octopus. The two behind him were twins both with teal hair and were grinning down with sharpened teeth in sight. The first twin had had a longer, darker grey strand framing his left side. His eyes have heterochromia iridium; his left eye is yellow, while his right eye is olive. He wears a blue, diamond-like earring on his left ear, and his twin had the other with his right eye being yellow and the diamond earring on his right ear. The only other difference is twin one was dressed properly while the other had a messier appearance.

Not hesitating a second, Tori took off his ornate skull pin and gave his wrist a flick, revealing a wand in place, aiming it at the three and narrowing his sharp grey eyes. “You have five seconds to get the hell back into the mirror before I blast you there myself.” He warned.

The glasses wearing individual chuckled and walked over calmly, using his cane to push Tori’s wand to the ground. “Now, now, none of that.” He lifted Tori’s chin so they were eye-level. “Pure silver, you must be a rare spirit user; last I heard of your kind you have quite the high mortality rate, yes…” he gently pushed his face side to side to get a better look. “Surprisingly healthy, but for how long I wonder.”

Tori slapped the cane away and took a step back before raising his wand again. “Don’t make me repeat myself, get out of here now.” He ordered.

“Bind the Heart!” the ‘less formal’ twin sprung forward and shot a spell right at Tori’s heart, he grinned and took a step back. “Go ahead and attack us, little tigerfish.” He cooed.

That’s it, they’re asking for it; he immediately hissed out a spell “lux Gaudete!”

A burst of light did shoot out, but instead of the three it instead hit against the wall leaving a light scorched place. He paled, fuck…they jinxed him! Tori stared with wide-eyes, he was essentially defenseless against the three when it came to magic, and he wasn’t going to start a brawl in this room and risk ruining Marinette’s work. Damn, what could he do in this situation. The glasses wearing male chuckled again and made his way to Tori, backing him right into the wall and trapping him.

“Whatever is wrong? Don’t tell me Floyd bested the heir of the Sennen Coven now.” He wrapped his hand around his arm. “Come now Dalimar-Shai, we’re guests in your realm and it’s only polite for the host to show us around.” He turned to the well-dressed twin. “Jade, if you could kindly open the trap door for us?”

*****

There was a disturbance in the force. Luka paused in playing his guitar and looked across the Sein, something had happened but what? Feeling some worry, he grabbed his phone and started to dial Tori’s number…one ring. Two rings…he always picked up on the second ring; something was definitely wrong. His heart skipped when the line was picked up; please be Tori and please be alright. 

“Tori, is everything okay?” he asked.

There was silence for a few seconds; “Yeah, everything’s fine…I’m actually picking up some ice cream.” Tori explained. “I was thinking about getting butter pecan.”

Butter pecan? Luka frowned at that; Tori said he’d rather eat his own liver before he touched that flavor of ice cream, this just confirmed it. Tori was in trouble and he needed some serious backup. 

“Pick up some cinnamon while you’re at it, I’ll be over shortly.” Luka instructed. “You never know if there’s an akuma tonight.” Hanging up he immediately grabbed his jacket and hurried out. “Come on Sass, we have your holder to save.”

Sass poked his head out of the pocket and tilted his head, “Master Tori is in trouble? What happened?”

“I don’t know, but if I had to guess it has something to do with that mirror.” Luka went into an alleyway. “Sass, Fangs Out!”

Viperion took to the rooftops of Paris, tonight was a rescue mission and the subject of rescuing would be on Tori Dalimar-Shai. Using his heightened sense of smell, he was able to track him down and find what the problem was; sure enough, Tori wasn’t alone, he was surrounded by three strange well-dressed individuals…this screamed mafia to him. Swinging down he stopped in front of the four, Tori had a look of relief on his face while the other three had a look of mixed curiosity and annoyance.

“Oh my, this must be one of the famous heroes of Paris.” Jade pointed out. “Snake hero…hmm no hood so definitely not the Assassin, Viperion I presume?”

“Ah you know me; this makes my job easier.” He looked at Tori. “Are you alright, these three aren’t causing you trouble, are they?”

Tori decided to ignore the warning glare that the glasses wearing individual had. “Yes, they are.” He pointed to the one next to him. “He had his two buddies bind my magic and kidnap me from the Dupain-Cheng Bakery!”

“You know what your people say, Dalimar-Shai.” The male clutched the cane tighter. “Snitches get gutted and sacrificed to Anubis!”

That was enough for action to happen. It was Viperion versus the two twins; he had to use second chance each time the casual twin kept hitting him with Heart Bind and the other was of no help when it came to the Hypnosis charm, he could barely get a note out before he was dodging another attack. The battle between the three caught the attention of two other heroes; right on time, Viperion timed this perfectly – Chat Noir and Chien Citrine had patrol night so any conflict certainly caught their attention.

With the field evened out, the heroes were able to get Tori away from the three and they were able to escort them back to the mirror. Tori crossed his arms and pointed to the mirror in a silent command, surprisingly, they obliged…for now; but one stayed behind for a few minutes – the leader of the group. He made his way over and grinned;

“Relax, I’m only here for a little souvenir to take back to my dorm.” He grabbed Tori by the chin and placed a kiss on his lips before leaving. “Bragging rights, naturally.” He smirked and left. Once the mirror was sealed again, he flashed a grin to the group; “Oh, and if you must call me by name, my name is Azul…and I assure you we will meet again.”

*****

“MARINETTE I AM NOT HOUSESITTING FOR YOU ANYMORE!”

Marinette held the phone away from her ear, this was not how she expected a morning wakeup call. “What do you mean? What happened last night?”

“Three guys came out of the damn mirror from Malleus’ room, they kidnapped me and I had to be saved by not only my boyfriend, but by the alley cat and my ‘brother’! My magic was bound, Mari!” Tori cried. “And to add the cherry on top, one of those three just flat out kissed me in front of my boyfriend!”

She just stared, “That shouldn’t be possible, it’s not a full moon!”

“Well they did, so unless they’ve made a mirror key – Oh fucking hell! Marinette, I think they stole your boyfriend’s key!”

“So, do you want a free mirror?”

**Click.**

Right, she figured that was going to happen; oh what a mess, she was going to have to ask Malleus to keep the key hidden next time unless Paris wanted a repeat of last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Butter Pecan is disgusting I don't know why anyone would want that flavor.


	9. Love is in the air

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was going to wait a little bit before I jumped with Dupont and the lucky villain of the day but uh...Babe threatened to come to Minnesota if I didn't write the Octavinelle ship in the tags so uh...Payback time.

School was a little bit of a mess. Tori was beside Luka in the courtyard with the rest of Kitty Section, and Luka was working on a possible new song; true, Rose was the main song writer, but it was agreed everyone would contribute to the songs, even if it was to throw ideas as to what it would be about. The tune of the melody Luka was playing started off calm before it got to the storm; he had a way with his music and from where Tori was sitting; he felt like he was on a lifeboat and was trapped in the storm before there a brief calm of being washed onshore on an island, an eerie calm before a siren showed up. 

The music was halted abruptly and Luka hit his head on his guitar with a groan. “Damn it.” 

Rose looked over, “You can’t claim art block, that was good!” she exclaimed

Luka sighed and shook his head before standing up. “I’m going to clear my head.” He made his way to the art room.

Tori shook his head, since that night; the two of them had been on pins and needles; he already talked with Marinette and Malleus to clear the air – and got delight when Malleus said he was going to go spear fishing – still, that night was actually exciting; more so than fighting an akuma…he just chalked it up to seeing his boyfriend dressed as a superhero. But lately, he started to wonder if that was all there is to it – it had to be, no Sass, his heart belonged to Luka. Stop playing matchmaker. With a huff, Tori just shoved a handful of blueberries from his lunch into his mouth and buried his face into his arms.

Juleka laid a hand on his shoulder, “So, how are things with the coven? I heard they found a way to link bloodlines?” She offered.

Oh, thank god, a change of topics to distract himself. Tori lifted his head up and nodded; “Yeah, it’s nothing really special; Coven Elders are going to be using a mix of blood magic and spiritual medium.” He explained. “So they pick someone who is living, call upon their blood line and ancestry and see who’s related to who; I know we have records written down but those faded with time and unfortunately this brings other families to question if the heir of the current coven is a true heir or not.”

“Does this mean if you’re related to Master Mahad you can finally wear gold?” Ivan poked at him. “Kidding, but this would tell whether or not you’re the true heir, right?”

Tori nodded. “We’ve had our records saying that I am, but again, due to the faded lettering overtime it caused way too many questions among families.” He shrugged. “So, to keep from offending others – no gold; I have to assume the role of ‘apprentice to Master Mahad’ and refrain from precious metals.”

“Are you feeling better to talk about what’s on your mind?” Juleka asked. “You were stressed and only showed joy when we asked you about coven related business.”

Rose nodded. “You and Luka have been acting pretty strange lately.” She looked down. “You’re holding onto each other like you’re afraid of being separated…then there’s the ‘art block’. What happened?”

Tori groaned. “We’ve already told this story, but the short version is this; three sirens came from the mirror and essentially kidnapped me and Luka had to fight them off me. The leader of the sirens kissed me and that’s the end of things.”

“That mirror seems to be a hinderance.” Mylene crossed her arms. “Do the elders know anything about it?”

“Yes, and we’re dropping this conversation because mortals aren’t supposed to know about the other realm.” Tori had a nervous smile. “So, uh…next topic; Halloween is coming up, what is everyone dressing as?”

“For some reason, I keep forgetting Halloween is an important holiday to witches.” Rose laughed before looking thoughtful for a few minutes. “Definitely a princess!” she exclaimed. “Can I commission you to make a crown for the costume? I know it sounds last minute, but I promise I’ll keep it simple for you! I already have the costume made; I’m going as Princess Aurora!”

“I won’t be able to make the crown gold.” He warned. “I can work with silver since it’s a pure metal and it’s ideal for charms; will that be acceptable?”

“It’ll be one of a kind?” Rose offered. “So…yes?”

Tori chuckled and started planning out the tiara for his friend; the things he did for his friends and the rewarding outcome it came with. 

Over at the art room, the same situation was occurring; though it was easier to calm Luka down. Marinette had to assure him that the three sirens wouldn’t have harmed Tori – sure they had bound his magic, but there were other ways to defend himself; like having a heroic boyfriend there for him. From the sound of things, the trio were more curious than they were malicious in their intent. This was a new realm for them, anyone would want to jump at the chance to explore…and since they were of the villainous type, they would have gone about it in a mischievous way either way. 

On the brighter side of things; the dress was actually completed and she invited Luka and Tori to accompany her to the other side of the mirror. He accepted obviously, on the condition he could bring his sister and her girlfriend; Marinette saw no problem with that, safety in numbers after all. They parted for the day and went about their school life as normal as possible; listening to another session on Shakespeare and trying not to bang her head onto the table; seriously, how can Ms. Bustier get Hamlet and Midsummer mixed up? No, it was best not to question it; even Lila was close to tearing her hair out from how Ms. Bustier handled her lessons…well, at least it was a step up from their last lessons, they’ll give her that much. 

With classes ending for the day, Marinette had brought her small group to her room and packed up the dress and accessories. Her heart was racing so fast, she was about to faint had it not been for Joe squeezing her shoulders. Two coven heirs, a guitarist and his sister, and a goth girl with a fairy, this was probably going to head south. Shaking her head, she went over to the mirror and knocked on the glass to get Malleus’ attention. The boy appeared and unlocked the mirror and pushing the glass forward, allowing them inside.

That was one thing that Malleus didn’t want to go through again; he nearly murdered Floyd for stealing the key to his mirror and antagonize one of Pixie’s friends. He at least got it back so that itself was a blessing in disguise; and she was bringing friends over for a fitting. Weird, but he wasn’t going to complain; he welcomed the group with a grin and led the way to the Headmaster’s office where Mr. Trein and Mr. Crowley were waiting with the guest of honor. Of course, to get there, Malleus had to lead the group past the gawking students of the school, it was one of those days.

*****

“I wasn’t expecting it to be this color.” Anastasia looked herself in the mirror. “I mean, I know you don’t do white – that’s what Malleus told us, but I thought it would be more red.”

Marinette blinked. “I can redo the dress if you want?” She offered.

She shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine!” she assured. “I love it! It’s just, Malleus told us you were part Chinese and red was the color of your dresses so…I thought that’s what you would make this is all.”

Tori shook his head. “While that’s true, she will make a white dress if you ask her for it; however, blush wedding dresses are actually popular, along with ivory.” He explained.

Anastasia nodded and played with the locket. “I really love it,” she smiled. “Thank you so much.” 

Mr. Trein nodded in silent approval, “It appears Malleus was smart in selecting you to make this.” 

Joe was with the others and smiling at the scene that played out; Marinette could finally brag that she made a dress that was out of this world. He quietly told Tori that he was just going to walk around the halls of the school for a little bit – he wouldn’t go far, just to one end and then return. He didn’t think he would ever get used to how the school was structured like a castle – it was a castle, but it was still something he wasn’t used to. Collinswood always had a manor feel to it so students would feel like they were at home, this…this school was on another level as were the dorms. But it did have its charm and it was really beautiful in a dark and villainous way, and because of the structure of the place; he could hear a gentle singing voice from the auditorium at the end of the hall (and downstairs, but that was just a minor detail).

Once downstairs and in the auditorium, he carefully made his way to a few rows from the front – a music class was going on and he didn’t want to disrupt them; the person on stage was just…beautiful. Joe’s heart stopped the moment he laid eyes on him; shoulder-length blonde hair and violet eyes. His nails are painted indigo, and he occasionally wears his hair in an updo with an adorning golden crown, which depicts a dagger piercing a heart. The uniform that he wore a long, furisode-like indigo robe which drags on the floor, and has high slits in the sleeves. The inner fabric is red with a regal pattern displaying the Evil Queen's famed poison apple. An intricate golden design bearing the Pomefiore emblem is also printed on the right shoulder of his robe.

Beneath the slits of his sleeves, he wears a tighter, black long-sleeved garment. His sleeves form a pointed shape on the back of his hand and tie around his middle fingers. Joe’s own blue eyes went wide and he couldn’t pull away from him, not after hearing the other sing. Rich and velvet as the words came to life;

**“One song, I have but one song**   
**One song, only for you**   
**One heart tenderly beating**   
**Ever intriguing, constant and true**

**One love, that has possessed me**   
**One love, thrilling me through**   
**One song, my heart keeps singing**   
**Of one love, only for you.”**

Of all the subtle jokes he made to Marinette about falling in love with a villain in the mirror, it came and bit him back hard. He was far too entranced to have noticed the blond had finished and made his way off the stage and taking a seat beside him, it was his soft chuckle that broke him out of his trance;

“You were staring.” He said quietly. “I don’t blame you of course, I can’t help but to stare at those beautiful lavender locks of yours.” 

“I’m starting to think that your realm is cursed by Cupid himself.” Joe groaned. “I don’t even know you.”

“The Prince didn’t know Snow White and he confessed his love to her.” The blond pointed out. “Does it truly matter if you know the person or not?”

Joe just stared “Uh, yeah it does matter…I don’t want to fall in love with a serial killer.”

“If memory serves me correctly, Rita’s boyfriend and then husband was a serial killer and she was fine.”

“Using Dexter doesn’t count since in season four she died at the hand of one.” 

The blond huffed and crossed his arms. “Very well, then I suppose introductions are in order; my name is Vil Shoenheit.” He held his hand out to him. “And who do I have the honor of meeting today, Sweet Lavender?”

Joe recovered and shook his hand. “Joe Dupont, it’s nice to meet you, Vil.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Sir Dupont of the Fleur Family.” He grinned. “We know who the heirs are, you’re no secret to anyone.” He took his hand back. “You should be getting back to your friends unless you want to stay for the rest of the day?” He chuckled as Joe rushed out of the auditorium. 

Vil leaned back and took out his phone before writing a status on social media; “Met the most beautiful of the three Heads, the Pixie’s side of the mirror is definitely something else.” 


	10. Memorable Halloween

Halloween was around the corner, and what does Night Raven do to celebrate aside from the traditional jack-o-lanterns around the halls and covering the classrooms with spiderwebs? All-out prank war from Heartlabyul for one (just as long as they weren’t breaking any rules and pissing off Riddle), Lilia handing out candy to everyone (he had received jellybeans from his dormmate), and anything else one could thing of during the season. But Malleus had other plans, he was in his room watching Marinette work on a costume; she had informed him of the dance that was coming up and honestly, he was excited for her. He couldn’t wait until the actual holiday itself, he wanted to see the final product of the costume – all he knew was that black seemed to be the signature color, she made sure to hide the majority of it away from the mirror; such a tease that pixie of his was. 

“After the dance, I was thinking about watching movies.” Marinette finished. “Which brings me to this; are you doing anything special for Halloween?” 

He thought for a bit, “I know Kalim is hosting an open invite Halloween Party.” He shrugged. “He does this every year and every other weekend.” 

“Oh.” She looked down slightly, “Because I was wondering if you wanted to come to the dance my school is hosting, but if you had other plans, I understand.”

“I said ‘Kalim was hosting an open invite party’ I never said I planned on going.” He grinned. “After all, I can’t be at two parties at the same time, now can I?”

Marinette stuck her tongue out at him. “Well, now that I know you’re coming to the dance I guess I have no choice but to show you my costume so we can do a couple’s costume!” 

She got up and covered the mirror for a few minutes, when the blanket came down, she was dressed in a form-fitting black, leather-look gown with a stretchy fit and daring scalloped side slit. Neckline with crisscross lacing is embellished by a blood-red jeweled spider pin. Sheer, shimmering spiderweb capelet, attached at the back and elastic wrist straps. Malleus just felt his heart stop and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her, from his point of view the costume looked done but he knew that Marinette was probably going to add a little surprise element to the ensemble itself.

“Surprised?” Marinette grinned. “I’m a black widow!”

“You certainly did your job! I can’t feel a pulse!” Malleus cried. 

Marinette was just laughing as she covered the mirror again so she could change out of it, once back in her normal attire, she removed the blanket and sat in front of it. “I’m almost done with the final element, but since I’m going as a femme fatale, you should do something similar! I could make one for you!” 

“There’s no need, Pixie.” He smiled softly. “I know someone at school who would help if I asked; besides, I want to surprise you for when I come over.”

“Speaking of school, we should head off.” She stood up and grabbed her bag. “See you after school?”

Malleus smiled. “As always.” He promised.

School for him was slightly tolerable; while his classmates knew the existence of the world, they never really bothered him that much, this in itself was concerning (That and the fact a good number have been going to Headmaster Crowley and the teachers more than usual). It was behavior like this that made it a blessing that he was a silent people watcher; the school was definitely up to something, he was almost certain of it…no, he was definitely certain about it when the Leech twins approached him along with Kalim and having giant smiles on their faces; either Azul was sick and they decided to latch onto him for the day, Kalim was warped into a contract, or this was going to lead to a conversation that was going to make him hit his face with his textbook. 

“Happy Halloween, Malleus!” Kalim held his arms open, welcoming him for a hug. “You finally came out of your lair!”

“Happy Halloween, Kalim.” He responded. “How goes your party preparations?”

“Going great! The only problem is the venue; I know I could use my dorm, but this is a special occasion!” He laid a hand on his chin. “I was thinking of switching things up; torn between Octavinelle’s dorm, Pomefiore, The Grand Paris Hotel.” He listed.

Malleus felt his blood run cold. “What was that last name?” he asked.

“Pomefiore.” Kalim looked up at him. “I was going to ask you if we could use Diasomnia if the other two said no.”

He crossed his arms. “Alright, what are you up to?”

Jade shook his head, “Really Malleus, we’re just here to inquire about Diasomnia hosting; Azul is thinking about it so it’s not certain if our dorm is going to host the party.”

No, he definitely heard Grand Paris he pinched the bridge of his nose and gave a sigh; “I’m going to regret asking this, how do you propose to go to Marinette’s realm for your little party?”

Floyd wrapped an arm around Malleus, “I’m glad you asked!” he grinned. “Ever since you brought the pixie to our world and have her make a wedding dress; ladies from all over want a piece of art from her! The teachers and…others have thought ‘Gee, how can we get our villainous ladies and pesky heroines looking fabulous if the designer lives in another realm?’ and then Headmaster Crowley was like ‘We have a link to the realm, we just need to make a doorway there!’ but then there’s this slight hinderance; we have to get approval by the families who made this realm for us.” He pouted.

Jade stood on the other side of Malleus. “Then it dawned on us, every coven has a crystal ball; let’s call the families up and ask them – after all, the ‘Age of Fairytales’ is long gone and over with, surely they wouldn’t hold it against us.” He gave a sweet look, “We’re just innocent school children, after all, they wouldn’t be that cruel, would they?”

“Us? Innocent? It’s official, you’ve been soaking up the jellyfish chemical.” He pulled away and narrowed his eyes. “Making a doorway to another realm is a complicated matter, I doubt the Three Mains will even approval of the notion.”

Kalim tsk’ed and waved his finger. “That’s where you’re wrong; Lady Elaine, Lady Demeter, and Lord Dracula and Lord Belmont gave the approval!” he jumped and clapped his hands. “We can visit the pixie and she and her friends can come here without the use of that silly key!”

Someone up there must really hate him today. Malleus closed his eyes and took a steadying breath; he had to remain calm about this, so they had the means to enter the mortal realm – no big deal, it made it easier to visit Marinette whenever he pleased and he could get a feel around Paris itself without having to worry about anything. And the Three Mains gave the approval, it’s not like this was going to bite anyone in the ass afterwards – no sir, this was going to go swimmingly. Oh, who was he kidding, he knew damn well that certain trio were going to abuse this system and possibly make things harder for everyone!

With a shake of his head, he just made his way to Pomefiore, despite being vain – Vil was actually pleasant to talk to and he was a great designer…that is if the two interacted more. Well, no time like the present.

 *****  
Tonight, was the night, Marinette was in her costume and adjusted her web veil in the mirror as she waited in the living room for Malleus. She already informed her parents that he would be coming through the mirror from her room and explained everything about the interaction in general; surprisingly, they were okay with it…just as long as Malleus understood curfews and didn’t try visiting in the dead of night and that Marinette kept her bedroom opened. She huffed and agreed back then, but right now, she was waiting with her friends so they could carpool to the hotel where the dance would be held; Tori was dressed up as a knight from the crusades, Joe was dressed as a member from the Pharaoh’s court, and Adella was dressed as a Greek goddess. While Adela did attend a different school, she never really passed an opportunity to be involved in activities as her friends.

After a few anxious minutes of waiting, the sounds of footsteps caught their attentions; turning their gaze to the stairs, they were met with Malleus dressed in a suit and trench coat, a top hat rested on his black hair, and in his hand was a ‘blood stained’ knife. He grinned at the group with his sharp teeth before bowing before them.

“Jack the Ripper, at your service.” He introduced.

Tori chuckled, “A pleasure to see you again, Malleus.”

He stood and nodded. “Likewise, Lord Dalimar-Shai.” He looked to the other two; “Lord Dupont, Lady Crina.”

“Please, just call me by name; a friend of Marinette’s is a friend of mine.” He smiled.

When the short reunion was over, Sabine had insisted on a few pictures of everyone in their costumes before they headed out for the night. Carpooling was everyone singing along (albeit rather poorly on purpose) to the playlist that was playing (mostly songs from Random Encounters – courtesy of Adella.) and Malleus just shaking his head, he had to look up most of the lyrics which prompted a little ‘keep away game’ from Marinette (“Looking up lyrics is cheating!”). This lasted until they came to the hotel where Chloe and Sabrina were dressed as the heroes of Paris; Queen Bee and Madame Grey, this prompted a look from Tori – but after noting a miraculous wasn’t used he nodded and smiled at them in greeting.

“Sorry if we’re late.” Joe said. “We were waiting on the guest of honor.” 

Sabrina giggled, “We figured.” She grinned to him. “Marinette, don’t let that one go.” 

“Well let’s stop standing around in the cold! I’m freezing in these tights!” Chloe huffed and ushered everyone inside. “Oh! And Malleus, I don’t know how Halloween parties work for your school but here we vote for a Pumpkin King and Queen, it’ll be announced at Midnight, so you better vote.” 

Malleus shrugged, it didn’t really matter much to him – he already knew who was going to be the queen tonight in his book, and she was standing right next to him.

The party was in full swing with Nino at the DJ – he was covering for Kitty Section since the members wanted to get a few dancing in before they had to perform; Tori immediately broke from the group and went over to his boyfriend, immediately they were in each other’s arms and just dancing like there was no tomorrow. Smiling and laughing as they danced away. Marinette followed suit, dragging Malleus to the dancefloor and dancing with him (and honestly, he was surprised with how easy it was to dance in that spider costume of hers.)

As the DJ played and more people were in the swing of things; it was easier to break from friends to either get snacks or to just chillout, intermission was going on and some people needed the break. The strange thing about the break; there seemed to be more students attending the dance than usual and the Three Mains were here watching from the shadows along with the teachers. If Joe had to guess, he had a sinking feeling that the Night Raven students were mingling with his classmates; from the looks of things, they were just having a good time – especially the handsome blond from before. 

Vil took a seat by Joe and handed him a glass; “Quite the party, the mortal realm sure knows how to have a good time.” He grinned.

Joe nodded. “Yeah, Chloe always knows how to throw a great party.” He looked at him and took the glass. “Enjoying yourself?”

“Always.” He smiled.

“Not up to mischief, are you?” Joe smirked.

Vil just grinned and leaned close, “Share a dance with me and we’ll find out.”

Joe just gently pushed him away. “A flirty one, are you?” He laughed. “Alright, one dance can’t hurt.”

On the other side of the dance floor, Adrien was with Alya and Lila; they were laughing and joking about their costumes – both girls decided to be the fox hero and claim they were long-lost twins, Adrien was decked out as the Phantom of the Opera. Originally, he had wanted to do something like dress as a Hufflepuff, but no thanks to his father who forced him into a suit, he had to improvise (he at least was grateful that Mylene was amazing in the makeup department and gave his masked side the deformation; that should shock his father into silence for a while when he got home). Somewhere during their laughter, it was cut off by Adrien’s phone ringing; this was the fifth check up in less than five minutes! The girls knew his father was controlling, but this was another level altogether!

The moment he hung up was when a new face came up to them; Kalim tilted his head at Adrien and had a small pout of his own before speaking.

“Why the long face, it’s Halloween; a time for spirits and festivities!”

Alya huffed. “It’s his father being a controlling dickwad, this is the fifth time since intermission that he called to make sure Adrien was still at the party.”

A thoughtful look came on the boy’s face before his eyes lit up. “It’s also a time for mischief and pranks.” He grinned to Adrien. “Only with your permission will I do this, but uh…you’re okay with taking a shocking picture right?”

“I guess? How shocking are we talking about?” Adrien asked carefully. “I’m not going to table-dance, Tori already suggested that.”

Kalim shook his head. “No, no, nothing like that…” he took Adrien’s phone and turned the camera on before handing it to one of the girls. “Your dad’s not homophobic, is he?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Good enough for me.”

Kalim brought him close and kissed him for the camera. Adrien was taken by surprised but went with it, he wasn’t certain how this would shock his father; but if this strange kid said that it will, then who was he to argue? Alya’s jaw had hit the ground before she was able to get a good shot for them. The two parted and Adrien was left in a doe-eye daze while Kalim was just grinning at him.

“Alright, let’s send the picture to your old man…see what happens.”

Meanwhile at the stage; Kitty Section was getting set up to perform for the rest of the night. Nino let the smooth music continue until it was time to announce them when he was approached by the Leech twins, he removed his headphones and looked up at them with an eyebrow raised.

“Uh song requests are closed, dudes.” He informed them.

“Oh, we know that.” Jade assured. “We were just wondering if could perform a slow for the group before the band begins.” 

Nino thought it over and shrugged, “Sure…Guess it can’t hurt.”

The twins thanked him and Nino introduced them as giving a quick slow-dance song; just as he did, the sound of a tropical guitar was heard and the two began to sing, letting their voice ring through the hall (hey, Sebastian may be a kiss ass, but damn if he wasn’t a fine composer.)

**There you see her**   
**Sitting there across the way**   
**She don’t got a lot to say**   
**But there’s something about her**   
**And you don’t know why**   
**But you’re dying to try**   
**You wanna kiss the girl.**

Those bastards. Malleus was a bright pink from blushing as Marinette took his hand, she actually found this performance to be just right. Leading the way to the dance floor once more, the two started things off by dancing with each other with her head resting on his chest. His heart was beating like crazy as he moved to the song, twirling Marinette and pulling her close again. The two switched from slow dance to a waltz where they had more movement to the love song Jade and Floyd were performing for the crowd; and as if under a spell, the two looked at each other before kissing for the first time since they’ve met.

“Are we official?” Malleus finally asked.

Marinette nodded. “I think so.”

**Yes, you want her**   
**Look at her, you know you do**   
**It’s possible she wants you, too**   
**There is one way to ask**   
**It don’t take a word**   
**Not a single word**   
**Go on and kiss the girl.**

At first it was just Luka and Tori dancing together before Azul came and cut in. They wanted to be annoyed, but somehow all three ended up dancing together; Azul would dance with Tori and twirl him over to Luka who would take over and when they would part, the blue-haired musician would find himself in the arms of the Night Raven’s mafia boss. The way the three were in sync – in Luka’s words; it sounded like Erik’s Music of the Night; Hero and Villain, Night and Day, the went well together. In Tori’s mind, he wouldn’t be surprised if the twins managed to sneak their way over and join even while singing.

And he hated being right, they joined for the chorus and dipped the heir back and grinned down at him before pulling him up and back into Luka’s arms. The two blew a kiss before returning to the stage and continue the song, Azul on the other hand he didn’t hesitate in another kiss for the two of them.

“This means absolutely nothing.” Tori hissed.

Luka huffed. “I don’t know what magic your friends are casting, but that’s all this is; a result of a spell.”

“If it helps you two sleep at night.” Azul smirked.

**Sha-la-la-la-la-la**   
**My, oh, my**   
**Look at the boy too shay**   
**He ain’t gonna kiss the girl**   
**Sha-la-la-la-la-la**   
**Ain’t that sad**   
**Ain’t it a shame, too bad**   
**You gonna miss the girl**

“Guess you got your dance after all,” Joe teased.

Vil threw his cloak behind him and led the dance between them; they were a little sloppy at first due to the hesitation they both faced, but after some time they were doing the waltz with the other couples on the floor. He won’t lie, when he said he wanted to share one dance with Joseph Dupont, he wasn’t expecting it to be a slow dance of all things. But he could chalk this up as practice for when they got know each other better.

“Unlike the others, I’m not going to kiss you.” Vil reminded.

“My breath doesn’t smell that bad.” Joe gently nudged his leg. “But I thank you for that; we hardly know each other.”

“Perhaps you should give me your number and we can fix that little problem.” 

Joe halted in the dance and nearly caused them to collapse onto the dancefloor, he looked up at him with a bright red blush. This smooth bastard! 

*****

“Alright, Happy Halloween everyone; it’s been an amazing party but…Midnight’s here and I hate to say but, party’s over…” Nino grinned at the boos. “Ah, I’m kidding! We still have to announce the Pumpkin Royalty! Before we do that, I want to say Hi and thank you for showing up to the new arrivals – not sure where you came from, but you definitely livened this place up. Alright for our Queen this year it’s…Lila Rossi.”

Lila was just standing there stunned, she just made her way to the stage and accepted the crown before turning to the microphone for her brief thank you speech. “Uh Thanks? I wasn’t expecting this to be honest!” She gave a weak smile.

“And for the Pumpkin King…Okay, Chloe, I swear you conspired for this to happen; but tonight’s king is someone named Leona Kingscholar?”

The student in question made his way to the stage and bowed to everyone before receiving the crown, he flashed a toothy grin to everyone. It was a little unsettling given that he had a lion appearance, but they still applauded him for winning (Chloe had to assure that it wasn’t her idea, it turned out it was actually the Night Raven’s kid who convinced everyone; figuring it would be a good laugh.)

“Congrats to the King and Queen of the Pumpkins! Give them a round of applause!”

Leona looked to Lila, “Sorry if you were expecting someone else.” 

Lila stared; she couldn’t find her voice. “Uh…it’s fine. It’s Halloween and this is all in good fun, right?”

“Of course, it is!” he agreed. “We should do this again!”

Nino had a grin, “Well, we do have a winter formal if the new guys want in?” That erupted cheers from both Dupont and Night Raven. “Then it’s settled! Maybe we should go to their school for the venue.”

“Do not encourage them!” Malleus called. “They don’t need it!”

“No, no, Nino is right; we should definitely hold Winter Formal at their school!” Marinette agreed. “It’d be fun!”

“Marinette, not you too!” Malleus groaned.

Despite his protests, it was official; Night Raven College was going to be hosting Winter Formal…Halloween was memorable that night, and he had a feeling come Winter Solstice it was going to be just as memorable. Malleus shook his head, he supposed he better find a suit soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to Dance on Gabriel's grave


	11. Chilly Evening

**Troublemaker:** Tonight’s the night.

 **Fashionista:** Hmm what’s tonight again?

 **Troublemaker:** Pixie, are you being serious right now!?

 **Fashionista:** Oh! You mean our date night, that’s not until next week.

 **Troublemaker:** I can hear the teasing smirk from the screen, Pixie. You’re not that subtle.

 **Fashionista:** You caught me, lol. I can’t wait, the plan is still the same?

 **Troublemaker:** Yeah…I have to go, Mr. Trein is looking this way and I’d rather not face his wrath.

That was from this morning when they were in classes – everyone was surprised when they were able to follow the Night Raven College students and vice versa, but they just chalked it up to the fact that a Mirror was placed in their realm. This action did stir the magic community up greatly, and Tori and Joe were near exhausted every time they came into school – those long meetings weren’t really being kind to them. It’s why she treated them to pastries and coffee at the bakery to help pick them up and to relax in her room without being watched by her boyfriend. Actually, since the end of the dance; the mirror hadn’t really been used much so it was safe to have it by the ‘stage’ where she had her models for their fitting. But, as of the present, she was just watching over the two stressed out witches and made sure no akumas after them while they were in this state – fortunately, Tori was taking a cat nap on the chase and Joe was spacing out to Jagged’s new album, they were in a relaxed state which was what they needed.

With that worry out of the way, she was able to focus on date night. Now that the weather had gotten colder, she had to pass the ladybug mantel to Bridgette; the Collinswood girl was used to the cold so she could be Ladybug for the season while Marinette stayed indoors and ‘hibernate’ – and since the last thing she wanted was to pass out during the date, she opted for not only a warm cloak (“Thank you, Tori for introducing me to that warm velvet dream”) as well as a sweater and jeans. Sweet and simple is her style and nothing is going to change – even with the seasons.

“Will you boys be alright?” she asked. “I know your covens were responsible for ‘sealing the stories away’ only to have them return…”

Joe looked over and smiled. “We’ll be fine, the meetings are just tiresome is all.” He sat up and stretched. “Besides, this is just to make sure we don’t have another ‘Snow White’ episode so…we’re doing some security measures when it comes to our realm; last thing we need is someone trying to bring in a poisoned apple.”

“Alright, and Tori what about you?” she turned to him. “You’re from the Main House and…you’re also Hooded Assassin.”

Tori just gave a thumbs up. “Luka takes the winter for me, and I came back from tea with the Queen this morning.” 

“Oh? Which Queen?” Joe asked. “Because I was with the heroes with the Ice Queen.”

“I hate you; I was with the villains…specifically the Red Queen herself.” Tori grumbled.

“Alright boys, break it up.” Marinette warned. “Today is a day of rest, you two definitely deserve it.” She grabbed her bookbag. “And you two are going to stay here and recover, I’ll bring notes and anything you miss per usual.”

“Marinette is an angel that Paris doesn’t deserve.” Tori smiled. “You’re so sweet.”

Marinette shook her head; she’ll just chalk that comment as tired talking. Still, she was going to leave the boys relaxing and regaining their energy while she continued school for them. For once, school went by without anyone wanting to bang their heads into their desk – she’s not sure how, but apparently word slipped to the schoolboard about Ms. Bustier’s lesson plans and someone was replacing her while she retook mandatory course work; someone up there was listening to their prayers after all! Once the classes were done for good, Marinette had met with her group of friends and decided to talk shop; MDC was live over on the other side of the veil and Sabrina – along with Alya were in charge of making sure orders were coming in at a reasonable pace.

Five dresses and one suit, so far so good. She would start one of the dresses as she killed time for tonight; Chloe made it clear she was coming over to do makeup and hair – she reluctantly agreed to the help. Smiling at her two friends who were now just in a light sleep; oh yeah, they definitely needed this. After getting dressed, she made her way downstairs to wait for her trickster; she didn’t have long to wait, he was actually early and he was holding red roses in his hands (“Riddle gave them to me, don’t ask.”) She laughed and the two went off into town.

*****

Dinner was at a cute café that was themed after the heroes of Paris, they’ve spent the night talking about every little thing they could think of. It was like when they would sit in front of the mirror and communicate like that, but this was different; they could actually tease each other and have the consequences (such as a straw wrapper thrown at the face or even stealing a bite from the other’s plate). As of now, the two were walking back to the bakery and enjoying each other’s company; Malleus held Marinette close when he felt that she was starting to get a little cold and would rub her arm – this didn’t really help much, he was naturally cold to the touch, she didn’t mind of course (just as long as he’s not sneaking behind her and putting his hands on the back of her neck). Once back at the bakery, she led Malleus inside and made her way to the bakery to get something sweet for him to take back to his dorm; as she made her way into the bakery, her mother looked up at her and smiled.

“Tori had already gone home.” Sabine said.

Marinette blinked. “Oh, did Julie come pick him up?”

Sabine shook her head. “No…they’re from Malleus’ school, they came by earlier for a quick snack and when they saw Tori about to stumble down the stairs the twins rushed to catch him.” She explained. “Remind me to talk to Julie about his sleepwalking habits.”

“Wait, Jade and Floyd took Tori home!?” Marinette paled. “Oh, this is not going to end well.”

Malleus sighed, “Because I know how those three are, I’m going to check their dorm. Chances are Tori’s sleeping on a waterbed as we’re talking.”

“Luka is going to be pissed.” Marinette sighed. “Joey is here still, right?” she asked.

Sabine nodded. “Adella came by and woke him up, he’s still a little groggy but they’re still here.” 

“In that case, we’ll head upstairs.” Marinette nodded. “Malleus, do you still have the key to our mirror?”

He nodded and lifted the necklace chain around his neck. “Still keep it on my person.” He smiled. “I’ll go get your Sennen boy.”

Marinette kissed his cheek. “Try not to go overboard on the saving.”

*****

This was his life now; there was a part of him that had to wonder if the trio were into scenarios like this; but he knew better then to actually voice that concern – if he did, he wasn’t going to like the answer. Tori shook his head and leaned back in his seat at the Monstro Lounge, he had woken up some time ago and this resulted in Floyd dragging him to the lounge for a drink and good atmosphere. It was a nice place; he was able to relax and listen to Jade playing the contrabass on the stage, from where he was sitting, he was able to watch Azul and Floyd talk over a contract with Kalim. Apparently, it wasn’t that often that the prince would come to Azul for help, but he was ready to pay whatever the price was just for his assistance. Gods, Azul was the local Yakuza boss of the school, wasn’t he?

“Just give me whatever I need to skewer the guy with!” Kalim hissed. “I’ll give you my blood if you need it!”

“I’m not just going to give you the means to eradicate someone without knowing the full story.” Azul took a drink. “Start from the beginning, and we’ll go from there.”

Kalim threw his hands up and sat across from him. “Alright, you remember the blond I was with during Halloween?” he watched the nod. “Right, so me and Blondie we traded numbers and other ways of contact…well turns out his father is homophobic – not like that matters, I mean Blondie said that the man is never in his life to begin with so what did it matter what he thinks, right? Anyway, apparently seeing me kissing his son was enough to get him out of his recluse lair and…look I’m not an expert when it comes to this topic but, last I checked; Isolation is an abuse tactic.” He leaned back “Forced schedules, repressed diets…” he listed off.

Tori immediately sat up and looked at him. “Wait, are you talking about Adrien and his father?!” he demanded, Kalim just nodded. “Oh, I want to thank you; I’ve been working with Chloe and this is just the final nail in Gabriel’s coffin we need!”

“Get in line, I’m already leading the charge of his assassination.” Kalim spat.

“Excuse me?! Chloe and Sabrina’s been documenting before I even showed up in Paris!”

“Enough, both of you!” Azul snapped. “It’s clear you both want the same thing; frankly, I’m surprised that a Coven Heir wants to…dispose of a mortal, I thought that was against their teachings.” He smirked to Tori. “I won’t question further; I’m feeling quite generous tonight.” He snapped his fingers and Floyd walked over with two contracts, setting them in front of Tori and Kalim.

Tori picked it up and looked it over; “In exchange for asking Azul Ashengrotto for help, I ___ hereby surrender a portion of my power as payment. Failure to do will result in me working for Azul Ashengrotto indefinitely or until he deems my debt to be paid.” He lowered it and looked at him with an unamused look. “All this just to help up get rid of Gabriel Agreste the Fashion mogul.”

Azul smiled and laced his fingers together. “That’s the traditional contract, yes.” He nodded. “However, just this once neither of you two will be giving up your powers. You’ll just work here in this little café for…” he thought for a bit. “Two weeks and that will be all.”

Kalim raised an eyebrow. “What’s the catch?” 

“The catch is to agree to this before I change my mind.” He looked to Tori and sighed. “I’m not going to back out of the deal, if I did that, I wouldn’t be in business now would I?”

Tori looked down. “Suppose you have a point…give me some time to think about it before I agree to this blindly.”

“For you, of course.” He turned to Kalim. “And you?”

Kalim handed him the signed contract. “Done, and done…”

Azul nodded. “Give me a day or two and I’ll have your means to rid Gabriel for you.”

“I feel like I should be concerned why you three are planning to exterminate someone of the mortal realm.” Malleus walked up to the three. “But then again, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious as to how you’re going to go about it.”

Azul chuckled, “Ah Malleus, just the person I was hoping to see. You still have access to her spinning wheel, correct?”

“We’ll talk about that later.” He nodded to Tori. “I just came to pick someone up, you really need to stop kidnapping him.”

“Is it really kidnapping if we provide him a bed to sleep on and good company?” Azul pouted. “Fine, take him back home; I’ll just have to try harder…perhaps with that beautiful musician of his.”

Tori turned and took his wand out. “Go near Luka and I will hex you where you stand!”

“You can hex him later.” Malleus led Tori off. “Right now, let’s get you home.” 


	12. Model Love

Another twilight, another meeting; Joe was looking over his list and sighed, in the past weeks he had to meet with royalty as well as the other ‘heroes’…that meant he also had to have an audience with the gods; surprisingly that part was the easiest given his coven – heck, it was easier with the audience since he got to see family members, but it was still a headache trying to get Hercules out of hiding. As of now, he had a meeting with Grimhilde…he really didn’t want to meet with her and those that were tied to her. But, as the heir of the Fleur Family, he had to. Straightening himself up, he flared out his robe and kept his head held high as he strolled through the cobblestone walkway and up to the castle gates where someone was awaiting him. Blond hair in a bob-cut, bright green eyes, and dressed in a long-sleeved, black-button up which has purple buttons and a white-collar, along with a purple hat with red trimming and a large black feather.

“Sir Dupont?” he held a gloved hand out. “My name is Rook, charmed to meet you and welcome!”

Joe took his hand and shook it. “An honor to be here, and if I may…I noticed you’re wearing the same emblem as Vil.”

The blond smiled and nodded. “You have keen eyes Lovely Lavender.” He turned “Come, the Queen doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

To say the meeting went by in a breeze would be lying; Joe was stiff the entire time he sat at the table with her and some of the Pomefiore students, along with others. The only breather that he had was when they continued the discussion while doing Yoga (“After all, one must take care of one’s own body.”) and whenever they were relaxing in the sun for a little sunbathing and to get some vitamins as well. The terms and agreements were in place; so long as they don’t take vanity to another level to which they’ve agreed to – on the condition that Joe finds a modeling company in the mortal world worth signing into. There was Gabriel but with the way he treats his models that would just make things go sour and it would cause another realm sealing which no-one wanted, wait…he was friends with an independent designer; he could ask her! The Queen and the others would get to model, Marinette would have more designs to the realms, Gabriel would be losing people to the competition, it was a win-win for everyone!

“I might know someone who would be glad to let you model for her.” Joe offered. “Well, I still have to ask her if she’s alright with having a villain line.”

Vil looked over and raised his sunglasses above his face. “Would this be Malleus’ girlfriend by any chance?”

“Well…yeah, Marinette has her own line – MDC – and some people of the other realms are commissioning her.” He explained. “Plus, she’s been slowly poaching Gabriel’s models and since I hate the guy and you’re drop gorgeous it’ll be a perfect way to tell him to suck it.”

A soft chuckle. “You better keep this one, Vil,” Grimhilde called out. “He’s quite the devious one.”

Vil smiled and nodded in agreement; “And he’s from a beautiful yet dangerous coven, I believe their specialty is poisons.”

Joe held his heart. “We are, but we would never poison another mortal!” he fell silent. “Okay, maybe not ‘never’ but we’re relatively harmless.”

“Oh yes, you should definitely keep him.” The queen laughed. “Court him already!”

“I’m working on it! Vil hissed. “Lord Dupont, are you free tonight?” 

“Wait what’s going on!?” Joe cried.

“I’m asking if you’re free tonight, I believe that Sonic movie is out…You like Sonic yes? I know Idia mentioned about playing Sonic Colors with family and since you’re Fleur he must be talking about you.”

“Okay, I have played some Sonic games…yeah.” Joe confirmed. “And I do like Sonic but where is this coming from?!”

Vil waved his hand. “We’ll catch the five-p.m. showing, I’ll take care of whatever snack food you want for the show; dress warm too, I don’t want you getting sick.”

That was how the meeting ended and how his morning started. Joe was with Adrien and Marinette at the bakery along with Tori, Adella, Alya, Nino, and Luka; while Marinette was getting coffee made and helping the coven heads relax, Adrien was updating everyone about what’s been going on at the Agreste Manor – apparently someone had left a very threatening letter to his father and no-one could tell who wrote it. Nino was on the side of saying that it was good that someone was after Gabriel, then there were those who – while they agreed that Gabriel sucked – felt that a threatening letter was a little bit too extreme. Too forward if anything else. It was that conversation that brought up the topic of the Queen and those who follow in her footsteps; Joe had finally asked Marinette if it was alright to take on some new models, she was hesitant at first but thanks to having Chloe on standby, she could have a contract written up and the rest would be smooth sailing from there.

Operation Get Pomefiore and the Queen into Modeling: Completed. 

Operation Go on a ‘Date’ with Vil: …Standby. 

“It’s not even a date.” Joe reminded. “Vil and I are just going to see a movie and that’s all.”

Luka looked up at him. “It wasn’t a date for the Music Festival and Tori and I are now together.” He reminded.

Adrien was snickering; “I remember that day! Tori was so stressed about what he should wear for Music in the Park that he tore apart his closet trying to find something!”

“The only way you know that is because you kept sneaking into his house!” Nino groaned. 

“This is what happens when you feed strays.” Tori muttered. “In any case, Luka’s right; yes, you two are going to see a movie, but I guarantee it that you two are going to be sharing a kiss right after.”

Joe just walked over and covered Tori up with a blanket. “Oh, be quiet.”

Alya shook her head. “You know…this is actually funny to me; Nino and I got together after Marinette locked us into a panther cage, Tori and Luka got together after Luka dedicated a song to him – and now are dealing with a trio from the Mirror.” She ignored the glares from Luka. “Marinette and Malleus got together after receiving the mirror, and now Joe and Vil are going to get together after a movie.”

“There’s a pattern going on with this, I just know it.” Nino looked thoughtful. “So…it took what? A month before Marinette and Malleus got together, so with that logic…Tori and Luka will be getting together with those Octavinelle boys, right?”

“We sure as sugar are not!” Tori sat up right and huffed. “Why the hell would you say that, Nino?!”

Luka held Tori close, “I’m not letting those sirens anywhere near him!”

Joe laughed, “Oh this is too good, I wonder if Aphrodite could confirm or deny you two are fated to be with our boys from the ocean blue?”

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your movie date?!” Luka hissed.

“Not a date!”

*****

It was a date. This was most definitely a date. The ride to the movie went pretty smooth; a limo ride to the theater, Vil flashing a smile to curious onlookers and snickering as some of them fainted, paying for both tickets and any snack that Joe wanted and picking the very back row of the theater. Aphrodite must be having a field day with him; he just knows it.

“I’ll be honest, I never really understood the Sonic games.” Vil admitted. “I’m more for games like Love Nikki – of course, if you ask me Momo has terrible fashion senses when it comes to the S rank.” He huffed.

Joe shrugged. “Where’s the lie? Marinette cried in anguish one time when she saw the outfit guide.”

“Making the clothes is the fun part though…and I do mean in real life.” 

That got his full attention. “You’ve recreated the outfits?” he asked in disbelief.

Vil smiled, “Well male versions of them of course; I like to sport them when break is around the corner and if I feel like showing off.” He looked down at him. “And yes, I would be willing to collab with your little designer friend.”

“Actually, I was going to ask if you could recreate the Hard Rock jacket.” He grinned. “Jagged Stone’s performing live next month and I want to look my best.”

Vil flipped the hood of Joe’s jacket over his head, laughing when he huffed and tried straightening those lavender locks. “I do have a price…”

“And what would that be?”

“You’ll find out after the movie.”

*****

**Cerberus:** I hate every single one of you

 **Ninja Turtle:** He kissed you goodnight, didn’t he?

 **Cerberus:** Yes, he did.

 **Snake Eater:** Ha Ha! Payback by the goddess for the Octavinelle comment!

 **Cerberus:** I have Aphrodite on standby, I will ask her to send cupid’s arrow after you Dalimar-Shai

 **Foxy Reporter:** Boys, please, you’re both pretty. Right now, let’s focus on the current situation and play Frogger!

 **Fashionista:** We know the rules; we keep going until we die…this traffic is making me nervous.

 **Cerberus:** Welcome to Grand Theft Auto where you can do crazy shit like this and laugh about it…after this we’re playing Red Rover.


	13. A Curse and a Blessing

Plagg was sitting on Tori’s desk and munching on some cheese, it took a lot of convincing from Adrien to let Plagg come over to discuss something non-miraculous related but it worked and now he was here watching Tori pace around the room with a devious grin on his little face. He knew about the threats that Gabriel had been receiving – he watched as that boy from the other realm slipped it in and left the note on the man’s desk, sure he exploited the camera’s weak spots, but nothing could compare to the eyes of a kwami…that and it didn’t help that the boy got in through his holder’s window (and left a lavender rose on the nightstand for him.) And now things were heated with Sass’ holder who was arranging a bouquet of flowers for Gabriel, not just any flowers, they were arranged as begonia, germanium, orange lilies, he was quite the hostile one wasn’t he? 

“What was it you need me for again?” Plagg asked. “And make it quick, I have a nap to catch soon.”

Tori chuckled. “Well, it was actually Joe’s idea but…as you know my stance with this topic, I’d rather you do the dirty work.” He shook his head. “I want you to go Godfather on Gabriel and leave a ‘gift’ for him.”

Plagg grinned. “Just how big am I allowed to go on this? Do you want me to use a horse?”

“Preferably something that won’t get the authorities involved.” Tori started to bind the flowers in a black ribbon. “Big enough to send a message, but not big enough that Gabriel’s going to call the cops.” He said stitching on an image of Spanish moss.

“Will a bat work for you?” Plagg asked. “They’re tricky but I can catch one!”

Tori shook his head, “No that would piss off Adella, let’s aim for a pigeon…I’m sick and tired of having to deal with pigeon boy.”

Plagg just laughed; “Pretty high and mighty sounding coming from a guy who’s wishing bad luck on someone.”

“You and I both know how rotten Mr. Agreste is, frankly if Kalim doesn’t do the blow we would be asking Joe to borrow some ‘plants’ from Demeter.”

“And what about Adrien, ever thought about how you were going to handle him?”

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get there, now are you going to go pigeon hunting or not?”

Plagg laughed. “Oh, just let me handle this.” He flew up to him, “I hope you know what you’re doing with those flowers kid, you’re essentially casting a curse and you know what happens when a Spirit user casts curses.” He said in a serious tone.

Tori shook his head, “I may be a witch, but I’m still human.” He reminded.

“Isn’t that the sad truth.” He shook his head and flew to the window. “Just be careful kiddo.”

Pigeon or not, word got around through the school when Adrien came in and updated everyone of what happened; someone left a dead bird on his father’s pillow and sent him flowers the following afternoon. Since then, Gabriel has been experiencing bad luck – strange enough, sometime after those ‘gifts’ Hawkmoth hadn’t really been active again for a while and somehow…Hawkmoth’s assistant Mayura had lost the peacock miraculous in a battle against Viperion and Ryuko, that was one mess taken care of and now they had to focus on the big bad himself. At least Paris could rest easily knowing that senti-monsters wouldn’t be a thing anymore, that was a blessing in itself. Another blessing was when Adrien brought out the lavender rose that he found on his night stand; Juleka confirmed what the meaning of the flower was; enchantment – probably someone’s way of saying they were enchanted by him? 

With class out of the way, Lila was with Adrien and going through her contacts; even if Gabriel was suffering, he was still able to get work done and that unfortunately meant modeling gigs were still a thing. The good news; Adrien got to do absolutely nothing – to his father’s disappointment, the bad news was that Lila still had to model and since there wasn’t that many male models Gabriel approved of, the two decided to take matters into their own hands. A nice last-minute call that the fashion mogul couldn’t do anything about.

“Try giving Leona a call.” Adrien pointed to his name. “Tall, handsome, muscular, model material.”

“And rough looking,” Lila nodded. “Your father is going to lose his head when he sees the issues.” She immediately texted him.

 **Vixen** : Hey Leona, it’s me Lila…we were Pumpkin King and Queen this year?

 **Lionheart:** How could I forget? What’s on your mind?

 **Vixen:** Well, I’ve mentioned to you how I’ve been modeling and well…my partner cancelled last minute and I was wondering if you were free today? 

**Lionheart:** …You want me to model with you? This seems more like a Pomefiore member’s style

 **Vixen:** I’m modeling for Gabriel. He’s…well the kind version is I want someone dangerous looking to model with just to give him a middle finger.

 **Lionheart:** The recluse that Kalim is trying to murder? Well, if Gabriel’s that much of an ass…I don’t see why not in modeling with you. I’ll be over shortly.

Lila turned to Adrien and gave a thumbs up; one rugged boy for a show coming right up.

*****

Shows weren’t really his thing, but he enjoyed seeing Marinette work like a busy bee – even if she was more of lady luck. Malleus watched as she got the dresses ready for her models, most were of the Pomefiore dorm along with the girls from her class, but that’s not what caused him to grin; due to some scheduling error on Gabriel’s end he was forced to share the venue with MDC, that and some of his models were sneaking over and quietly commissioning Marinette for a dress or two. He couldn’t be certain what the cause of this bad luck streak was, but he wasn’t going to complain in the slightest.

Sabrina was rushing around making sure everything was in place; dresses were the right theme – winter and the beauty of the season, models were here and accounted for, DJ was set up and ready to go, cameras were ready. Everything was in top order, even the catering from –

“Whoa!” 

Sabrina backed off and adjusted her glasses. “Ah, sorry.” She looked up at the new comer and fell silent, “You’re from Night Raven, aren’t you?”

The boy before her was in a standard uniform from his dorm along with a black / grey unbuttoned vest, and sitting on top of the vest is a yellow scarf with patterns implemented. If seen closely, underneath his vest is a necklace with different colors of beads. He was also wearing a pair of gloves. But what stood out were his ears – canine in nature.

The boy smiled and nodded; he held his hand out. “Ruggie Bucchi, I’m from the Savanaclaw dorm and I’m here to model? I think I’m in the wrong green room though…I was told I would be modeling with Leona and Jack for Gabriel?”

Sabrina grinned, oh no…she is not letting Gabriel take this boy. “Actually no, you’re in the right room; step this way and we’ll get you fitted with the others.”

The show itself was a success; Lila came out in a stunning dress that paid homage to the fox miraculous and beside her was the rough-edge Leona. The two posed and showed off to the crowd and vanished from the stage, the reception was lukewarm; most were curious as to why Gabriel went with warm colors for a winter fashion show – this got the two laughing and high-fiving each other before they made their way to the audience, giggling and snickering at how Gabriel’s ratings just went down some. 

The lights dimmed once more and the models for MDC took to the stage; Juleka came in a shimmering black dress that fit her form and wore a headband looking like broken ice, her makeup was a mix of pale and dark blue, she was the Queen of Black Ice. Rose came in a white flare dress with rainbow shimmers, her hair had colorful streak as she brought to life the Northern Lights. Vil came in shades of light blue and white as his hair had frosted tips and his normal ‘crown’ was replaced with more of a king’s crown; the Ice King himself had graced everyone the moment the fur robe he wore was shed to reveal the beauty underneath. Epel and Rook came in sporting as an artic fox and hunter with their fur coats and accessories; they posed and security had to stop a girl from rushing to the stage to protect the ‘fox’. Finally, her highness Grimhilde came in dark forest grin with frost accents; spruce trees in the winter and the red berry sequence giving the beautiful nature look.

When it came to the final model, howls of laughter came from Leona; Ruggie came in with the European robin look; brown vest with a rusty red shirt, a feathered headband graced his sandy locks and covered his ears – the only thing that Marinette couldn’t cover was the short tail he had which wagged out of joy as everyone started cheering. He got more praise than the other models (he was pretty certain he had heard someone begging to marry him)

MDC became a well-known name that night and Alya was pleased to inform Marinette that her site was blowing up with commissions.

*****

“A toast to the greatest designer out there!” Malleus held his glass up. “The Pixie who crafted everything we were able to adore tonight; Marinette Dupain-Cheng, to Marinette!”

Marinette laughed as the others raised their toast to her. “I couldn’t have done it without the amazing support of my friends and from Malleus…if it weren’t for him commissioning me to make a wedding dress, we wouldn’t have the fabulous villains on the stage tonight!” 

Tori chuckled and rubbed his eyes; “Nope, you would be kidnapping coven members to model for you.” He sat at a table. “At the very least, poaching more of Gabriel’s models.”

Adrien looked over at him concerned; “Hey are you alright?” He asked. “You look drained…more so than when you go to these coven meetings.”

“I’m fine, just…tired.” He set his glass down and laid his head on the table. “Rough morning is all.”

“Rough mornings don’t leave you looking pale!” Adrien cried.

That got the attention of the villains, Grimhilde walked over and brushed Tori’s hair out of his face to get a good look at him; tired grey eyes of a spirit user, she didn’t need her magic mirror to tell her that the boy was facing the aftermath of a curse. 

“He’s going to need to visit a life user soon.” She said coldly. “At the very least take a purifying bath, he’s suffering from a curse.”


	14. Desserts and Drinks

As the season got colder and colder, Marinette became more and more tired. Because of this; Malleus had offered to her parents that she could stay at his dorm where it was warm and he would take over her role as a student at Francoise-Dupont. It took a lot of convincing that everything would be fine – he was on winter break after all – and with that, Marinette was sleeping in his dorm and he was in her class taking notes and collecting her assignments for her. She wasn’t the only one absent lately; he noticed there was a missing face from the class next door – Tori, according to Idia, the boy was in the underworld being tended to by Hades and Persephone; both life and death users had to do a cleansing to get the nasty aura of the curse out of him. It was an undetermined amount of time that Hades said would be three days at least since they caught the effects early, still, it was worrying; casting a curse was signing a death warrant for Pure Spirit users, they already had a high mortality rate if they carelessly cast their spells and treating them was difficult since pure death users were the only ones who could hope to revive them – didn’t happen often seeing how most Pure Spirits die before they reached their sixteenth birthdays. 

Tori was a special case, he’s been in Paris for four years now – heck, he was going to be seventeen this December. Malleus had to be impressed, this boy was beating the odds in the magic community and defying fate left and right. Of course, that is if he makes it out of treatment in time would there be a celebration, they had less than a month now with it being the middle of November. For now, he just stayed focused on notetaking and recording the lessons for Marinette – she was another person that he was worried about; she had told him about what she knew about the miraculous of the Ladybug, apparently long-term exposure had some interesting side effects…such as going into ‘hibernation’ every winter along with (and this is according to Tikki, he’s not sure how he feels about this) giving off sweet pheromones (okay, never mind, he could buy this as he’s found himself holding her closer than usual and he finds himself getting jealous to the point his nails became more claw-like if any other male got closer to her.). Her team consisted of the Black Cat, Canine, Mouse, Bee, and Snake, along with the temporary Fox and Turtle – but those two were a work in progress; she’s still trying to get to them without tipping off the Guardian.

With his thoughts interrupted by the bell, he gathered everything and made his way out of the classroom and went to the cafeteria, he made his way over to the table where Kitty Section was usually lurking – due to Gabriel’s ‘luck’ streak, Adrien was actually able to be with the band and talk about practice now that he was able to show up and join the group as the keyboardist. The blond looked over and waved at Malleus with a bright smiling – he can see why this boy was called Sunshine among the others.

“Hey Mal, are you joining us today?” he asked.

“More or less.” He sat down. “I’ve noticed you were without a guitarist today.” 

Juleka nodded and sighed; “He’s visiting the Monstro Lounge, I’m kind of worried that he’s going to do something stupid.”

“Call it a gut feeling, but Luka is in good hands.” He sighed. “Azul may be a bastard who suckers people into deals, but he has standards; he’s not going to take advantage of your brother’s state of worry.”

“And this is coming from someone who makes comments on skewering him.” Rose teased. “Speaking of Night Raven,” she turned to Joe. “How are things with you and Vil.”

Joe looked up from his food and turned his gaze away; things were actually great between them. He found himself visiting the Pomefiore dorm more often than not and ended up having spa days with him. If they weren’t doing that, they were actually sparring and working on magic training with each other – he lost track on how many times Vil had exhausted him when it came to training as Chien Citrine…at least he got dessert out of the deal – surprisingly, Vil had quite the sweet tooth on him.

“Things are good, he’s asking me to pick something up from the Dupain-Cheng bakery.” He smiled. “I actually asked Sabine to make something from home; rote grütze, red berry pudding.”

“Sounds delicious!” Adrien chimed. “Hey, if you have any leftovers can I have some?”

“Sunshine I’m appalled you would think I’d forget everyone.” He pouted. “Just go to the bakery and tell them that I sent you to pick up your order.” 

Malleus shook his head, “He prefers anything with fresh fruit.” He nodded. “I find myself more for red velvet macarons.” He smiled a little. “Marinette makes the best.”

“You know.” Juleka grinned. “Last I heard from my brother, they do cater weddings…and I think Chloe knows the best jewelers out there you could buy a wedding ring from. Or if Tori gets better, you could commission him one.”

“This conversation is over.” Malleus hissed. “Anyway, speaking of…Marinette, I’m going to go check on her and deliver her homework from this morning to her.”

“You’re basically married already!” Mylene cried. “She’s living in your dorm room.”

Malleus paused after standing up. “I know how to knock someone out for a hundred years.” He warned.

“But you won’t.” Joe smirked. “You wouldn’t want Mari to be mad at you for hurting her friend like that.”

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” He smirked. “Of course, I’d have to face Vil if anything happened to his beautiful Lavender.” 

“Right, no dessert for you.” Joe huffed. “You’re far too mean.”

*****

The Monstro Lounge was just as lively as it always is; students were assisting Azul in running the place as well as enjoying their free time. Floyd was at the stage performing on the drums in a smooth jazz setting while Jade and Azul were at a table with an unusual guest; Luka Couffaine, the musician of the mortal realm and lover of the beautiful starfish. He watched as they talked; though he couldn’t hear over the music he was playing; he was able to read lips and it was clear what the reason for the visit was. Starfish was in a dire state and was in the underworld for a cleansing – strange, the curse that Azul had written up shouldn’t have harmed him like that. So, what caused him to fall in such a state? Clearly, this boy needs to be watched over to ensure he doesn’t endanger himself again.

Over at the table, Luka was actually surprised by how Jade and Azul were; they weren’t scheming nor were they trying to antagonize him. They were genuinely helping him through the tough times that is seeing his boyfriend near death like that – heck, they even gave him a free drink (with spirits of course) to lighten the mood of things. This just brought some questions that he had that he wanted out of the way; why were these sirens worming their way into his songs, he needed to clear things up right there and now.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate you helping, but…why us exactly?” He finally asked

Azul shrugged. “I’ll answer your question when you answer me this; what drew you to the Sennen’s heir?”

Luka fell quiet and played with the straw of his drink. “My sister introduced us; it’s a long story, but Tori had helped her in school. We’ve met at his place and we’ve exchanged numbers and I’ve asked him to go to a music festival with me, just a casual hang out.”

“But something happened at the music festival.” Jade spoke up. “Your…spark I believe?”

“Yeah…we were just talking about whatever came to mind, enjoyed some of the food, danced together to some of the slower songs. Then it came to me performing, I was going to perform an original piece for when Jules and I started our own band.” He smiled. “I didn’t, instead I went with a cover of Article One’s I Love you More and dedicated it Tori.” He let out a small chuckle. “It’s funny isn’t it? We’ve only spoken for a week and I’ve already dedicated a song to him.”

Jade nodded. “Even you don’t know what drew you to him?”

“He helped my sister, that’s more than enough for me.” Luka explained. “Music in the Park was just the right push.” He looked at them. “Alright, I answered your question now answer mine; why come after us?”

Azul sighed and leaned back with his drink. “I suppose my reasons started as curiosity; I was originally going to see what was so special about that mirror of his, found about his little girlfriend and I wanted to know more; clearly, plans changed. I saw the Sennen boy and when I saw those bright silver eyes, my curiosity shifted…”

“Curiosity shifted into infatuation.” Luka finished for him. “And then you started targeting me.”

Jade chuckled and pointed to his hair. “A sign of a pure life user is the hair, but you’re not such are you?”

Luka grinned. “Creation user and water user as my secondary.” 

“And now for our question; are we in the clear, and if so.” Azul had a grin on his face. “Do the three of us have a chance?”

That got Luka to choke on his drink. Right, rule number one when dealing with villains; never drop your guard around them.

“I may be poly and Tori may be alright with it; but it’s his call if he wants you three to be part of our ‘team’.”

Jade grinned and got close, “That wasn’t a no from you though.”

“We are not having _that_ conversation while my boyfriend is recovering from the aftermath of a curse.”

“You mean _our_ boyfriend.” Azul corrected.

“Oh no you don’t, you don’t get to slide in before we’ve talked this over!”

“Fine, have your talk, we’ll be waiting for however long it takes.” Azul laced his fingers together. “We’re a patient trio.”

Rule number two; never make a deal you can’t get yourself out of.


End file.
